Sette Fiamme Mondiale
by Oozora no Hono
Summary: In a virtual world, players are to conquer 100 different parallel worlds in order to reach the title of 'boss.' Tsuna is a player of the Cielo class and a master of all weapons. His goal is to become 'boss' of all the worlds and gain the title 'Decimo' as the tenth player to attain this title. But, in the real world, he is no other than 'Dame-Tsuna,' a loser in most peoples' eyes.
1. Prologue

Sette Fiamme Mondiale

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Or SAO's virtual reality**

* * *

Prologue

In the world of Sette Fiamme Mondiale, thousands of players' world-wide enter the virtual-reality game with one goal in mind—to conquer the 100 parallel worlds and gain the title of boss. Only 9 teams have made it this far, upholding the powerful title. Now, a new generation has come with new players trying to achieve the title as 'Decimo.'

Each world has different monsters to battle against and defeat—rise through ranks by defeating them.

Every world will have a secret boss room that you yourself will have to find. Only those who defeat the boss can pass on to the next parallel world. Those who fail will start over in the Beginning Town of that world.

New weapons and items can be unlocked the farther through the worlds you go. The farther you get, the more powerful you become.

You may challenge other players to duels in order to gain experience and level up. The winner will receive a prize of money and a rare item. The loser will end up with nothing.

There are 7 different classes. Cielo, Tempesta, Pioggia, Sole, Fulmine, Nuvola, and Nebbia. Each has their own color that distinguishes their class. When you begin the game, you are automatically sorted in to a class based on your personality and characteristics. You may form a team with one player from each group. You can have more than one from each category but it is not recommended.

Players can pick any weapon of their class. Tempesta specializes in mid-ranged attacks. Pioggia specializes in close-ranged with the sword. Sole specializes in hand-to-hand combat. Fulmine specializes in defense and long-ranged attacks. Nuvola specializes in close combat, and Nebbia specializes in weaponry and in special cases can use illusions. Cielo is all-rounded, specializing in long to close range attacks. They can master any type of weapon they choose.

A well-balanced party has all of these players and will usually benefit from it.

If players have a hard time forming a party, you may join a guild that will usually accepts any players no matter what class. Although, each guild is different and has it's own standards.

Collect items for selling, healing, and cooking. Discover new weapons that can increase your power and defense. Rise up through the different levels of the 100 parallel worlds and make new friends throughout the entire gameplay. Most of all, have fun, after all, this is Sette Fiamme Mondiale!

* * *

A figure draped in a black cloak walked down a deserted alleyway. It was, dark despite the warm sun shining brightly above. The figure moved slowly but with purpose, cautiously glancing around every few seconds. Finally, the alley came to an end and a cheerful street came to greet the person.

People dressed in colorful clothing walked the cobblestone roads, street vendors calling out to those who would listen, children dancing around, a slight breeze causing curtains to billow, and there was a small hum of chatter filling the air to its gills.

The person—without hesitation—walked right in to the mix, and fell into the wave of people getting swept along with the tide. At last he pulled out and stopped in front of a dark store with a crooked and old looking sign hanging off the top. If you looked hard, you could make out the fading text reading: Weaponry.

The black-clad figure walked through the door and went inside, setting off a chain of jingles from the rusty bell overhead.

From behind a desk, a scruffy-looking man with deep brown hair and green eyes looked up from what he was doing. At the sight of who walked in, he smiled broadly.

"Welcome back, Oozora, I believe you are doing well as always?"

"Of course, Bonifacio, what do you expect?"

The man laughed a hard, coarse laugh. When he was finished, he looked up again.

"You can take off that hood of yours, no one will see you in here."

The person obliged and slid off the hood revealing light-brown hair and large, oval shaped, summer-gold eyes. He had a kind look in his eyes despite his earlier, shady looking clothing. The cloak had slid off just enough to reveal a sword hilt across his back. He wore black gloves with large circular blue crystals with a silver X going through them. The tips of the fingers were made of metal, gleaming in the half-light. He looked no older than 14, and he looked weak with not only a small but short body. He seemed too skinny for his age too, but looks can be deceiving.

"Anyways, down to business, have you come here to sell or to have me make you a new weapon?" Bonifacio asked, his tone turning serious.

"Both actually." The brunet answered, his voice gentle and kind, just like his eyes. "I'll sell you Demon's Blade and Blood Scythe." The brunet swiped his hand in midair and clicked a few options on a floating screen. Suddenly, two weapons appeared in the air and he caught them easing. Then he placed the two weapons on the counter.

The man eyed them hungrily. "I'll give you 20,000 guilders for the Demon's Blade and 24,000 for the Blood Scythe."

"Deal."

Bonifacio placed the golden coins on the counter and snatched the weapons, sliding his fingers down each blade, eyes taking in every inch of them.

Taking the money, the brunet cleared his throat, "Ahem."

Slightly embarrassed, Bonifacio set the weapons back down. "And the weapon you wanted me to make?"

Taking off his gloves, the brunet handed them to the other man.

"I want you to modify these for me using these Flame Crystals. Make sure that they are heat resistant by the time you're done. This is the 9th pair I've gone through, I don't want to look for more, they are rare to come across." The boy placed two fiery red stones down. Inside the crystal, it seemed as though there was a small flame alive in their depths, flickering ever so slowly—timeless.

Bonifacio rubbed his hands in apprehension. "Will do, will do. You're gloves will be done in no time at all. Come back tomorrow morning and I'll have them for you. Make sure no one is following you. I'll let you go free of charge seeing as you're my number one customer."

The brunet huffed. "I think I'm you're only customer, Bonifacio." With that, he walked away and headed out the door, not pausing when the other called out to him.

"Until next time. Sawada Tsunayoshi."

* * *

**Sette Fiamme Mondiale means Seven Flames Worldwide (Or it should but I'm not really sure because I used Google Translate).**

**Cielo- Sky**

**Tempesta- Storm**

**Pioggia- Rain**

**Sole- Sun**

**Fulmine- Lightning**

**Nuvola- Cloud**

**Nebbia- Mist**

**Bonifacio is just a player who chose to become a merchant. His store is an illegal underground trading business that Tsuna likes to go to to manage his weapons.**

**Tsuna's codename or username is Oozora meaning 'Sky' in Japanese.**

**Every player will have a second name or username in the game like how Tsuna is 'Oozora' but will be called their given names in the real world.**

**The world of Sette Fiamme Mondiale consists of 100 parallel worlds for players to conquer. Each world is different with they're own names, items, and monsters that you will only find there, although there might be some monsters that you can find world(s) wide. Scenery will differ from place to place.**

**If players die, they will either start over in the world's Città di Inizi (Town of Beginnings) or have the option to let a party member (if they have one) revive them with an item.**

**In the virtual reality world, Tsuna is known as one of the strongest players yet no one knows his real identity of what he really looks like as he is always cloaked in black.**

**In the real world, he is always going to be called 'Dame-Tsuna' as no one knows his gaming identity (BUT you never know what might happen in the future).**

**In the gaming world, you may choose what you look like but you can't alter yourself very much. For example, Tsuna has lighter brown hair and golden eyes in the game but chestnut colored hair and eyes in the real world.**

**As of this chapter/prologue, Tsuna is currently a low level (20 or something like that) but he is still strong due to him being a Cielo (which are very rare to come across) and can take down most enemies using a special skill that he acquired when he just started the game (can anyone guess what this special skill is?).**

**Tsuna's main weapons are going to be his X-gloves (which will have flame powers in the near future as hinted in the story. They also aren't normal weapons to come across, because they are modified both in this chapter and possible Reborn in the future) but he also uses daggers hidden in his cloak that he throws and double swords (usually only one but he uses two when in a pinch) that are on his back.**

**And rest assured, Tsuna as always does not kill other players like some players might do in the future but he does kill wild monsters and parallel world bosses.**

**OK! Sorry for the long author's note but you had (or maybe not) to know all of this information because it might be vital (probably not) in future chapters. In later chapters, I might include a little reference guide and character guide to make things a little easier for you readers because there will probably be a lot of weapons and items that are used as well as characters and how they look because they don't exactly look how they do in the real world. Now, I might not be the best at updating because I do have school and lots of homework (right now I'm procrastinating) BUT I will try my best.**


	2. Chapter 1: Blunt Sword

Chapter 1: Blunt Sword

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

* * *

Somewhere far away, a school bell rang.

Not far from the source, a brunet sighed. He was late again.

He had stayed up late last night playing his favorite game. As a result, he overslept. His Kaa-san and Tou-san weren't home at the time, so he had no one to wake him up. They were some place in the middle of nowhere enjoying themselves on a tropical island. And of course, they didn't bring their son Tsunayoshi. Nope. They hadn't even given him a second thought.

The brunet sighed again. Hibari—the school prefect—would probably be waiting by the school gates to bite a certain someone to death. And that someone was Tsuna himself.

By the time he arrived in front of the school, Hibari was there—of course—brandishing his steel tonfas.

"Ohayo, Hibari-san." Tsuna pasted a reluctant half-smile to his face, knowing what was coming.

"Herbivore, you're late for school, I'll bite you to death."

Tsuna let out a sharp 'Hiiee' and made an attempt to escape as always but it ended in vain as he got whacked on the head by Hibari's weapons. After that, Hibari proceeded to give him a few bruises and cuts then left him on the school grounds, his mood seemingly content.

Tsuna swore Hibari looked forward to 'biting him to death' every morning.

Tsuna let out his third sigh of the day. For some reason, whenever he was in the virtual world, he had heightened senses and skills—amazing speed, exceptional dodging skills, sharpened eyesight. But none of these seemed to follow him back to the real world. It made no sense, no sense at all.

The doors of the class neared and the brunet slid them open, bruised and battered, preparing himself for the insults that would immediately be thrown at his face, not noticing another person standing off to the side of the door, staring at him.

3…

2…

1…

"Hey Dame-Tsuna, did you get beaten up by Hibari _again_?"

"You're late, Dame-Tsuna."

"You should just quit school if you're always this late, no one would miss you. I know I wouldn't."

And so on…

"Sawada, go find your seat and sit down!" The teacher barked, causing the brunet to flinch at the raised voice.

Slowly, he made his way to his seat right next to the window, just where he liked it. But it also meant that he had to dodge legs and spitballs on his way there as it was all the way across the whole classroom.

Oh how he wished the day would end.

"OK class, now that everyone is settled down, I would like to introduce a new transfer student. Gokudera-san, would you like to introduce yourself?"

The door slid open once again and in walked a silver-haired teenager with flashing emerald eyes. A scowl was stuck like glue on his face and his hands were shoved in his pockets. Basically, he looked like a delinquent.

A few "Kyaas!" came from every corner of the classroom. No doubt there would be a fan club the very next day.

Something told Tsuna that this guy was not a threat but he choose to ignore that feeling and label this new student as 'scary.'

"Tch. Name's Gokudera Hayato from Italy."

"Anything else, Gokudera?"

But it seemed like he wasn't listening. Instead, his eyes were scanning the whole classroom, seemingly measuring every student's capabilities. When he was finished, he walked uninterestedly to an empty seat that he guessed (correctly) was his. As he dragged out the chair, it made a high-pitched squeal against the floor, resulting in many complaints. But again, he made no move to apologize as he leaned back in his seat and stuck his legs up on the desk and closed his eyes.

Could this day get any worse?

* * *

Back at the Sawada residence, Tsuna threw his school bag on the floor of his room. He dashed out and grabbed a small snack from the kitchen and munched on it on the way back to his room. Once there, he lay down on his bed and attached a small device to his arm and closed his eyes, awaiting sleep.

Before he knew it, he was in a blank expanse with a single screen in front of him. It read: Login.

He tapped the screen and something new popped up reading: Username and Password.

Smoothly, with practiced ease he typed in the word Oozora and the number 27 for his username and password.

Shortly afterwards, he was transported to a friendly looking town called Città di Inizi just like all the other starting towns of different worlds. Right now he was in the world called Percorso di Luce, the 17th world and also where he had logged off the previous night. At the moment, it was currently morning. Time would tend to differ from world to world along with other things.

Remembering his objective as of last night, he swiftly headed to Bonifacio's store. He cautiously looked around, remembering Bonifacio's words before melding once again in to the crowd. He found himself in front of a broken down store and stepped inside, unconsciously pulling his hood father down his head.

He was welcomed by the sight of an empty room, no sign if life whatsoever. But he knew from experience that Bonifacio was in the back, probably making some finishing touches to his weapon.

Tsuna waited by counter where they had last talked, curiously peeking around the corner to see if Bonifacio would come soon. He really wanted to see his new gloves—he went through sweat and blood to get them.

* * *

_Flashback_

_World 14- Invertire_

_Tsuna raced up a tree jumping from branch to branch, the tree swaying in the process. Once he reached the top, he leaped off and landed on the back of a large falcon-like bird causing the bird to veer sharply at the unexpected weight. _

_Trying not to hurt the bird too much, Tsuna slightly twisted the wings to make it fly to the right in order to follow the course of a large male Drago. This was his 10__th__ time doing this absurd act but it was well worth the time and effort. He willed the bird to go faster and for some reason it did. They slowly gained on the Drago until they were close enough for Tsuna to jump on his back._

_The falcon let out an indignant squawk as he vaulted off its back and onto the Drago's. Sliding one of his swords out of its sheath, he followed specific steps in order to get the rare item that he wanted. _

_Instead of plunging the weapon into the Drago like a normal player would do, Tsuna took his sword and sliced a large 'X' on to its back. Then he took an item out from his inventory. It was a small bottle of murky black liquid called Sangue del Serpente. He uncapped the vial and proceeded to pour it into the wound until it was all gone. _

_The Drago cried out in pain and went into a spiraling nose-dive into the ground. The item that Tsuna used on the monster would not kill it but it had served its purpose. The wounds on the Drago's back quickly healed over and new aqua-blue scales grew from its back. As soon as they had stopped growing, Tsuna took the freshly regenerated scales and stuck them in his items bag. Quickly, he jumped off of its back and rolled onto the ground using the momentum from the jump to bring him back up to a standing position._

_From behind, he heard the monster crash and he hoped it wasn't too painful—he didn't enjoy hunting—but at least it wasn't dead. _

_Now, his next stop was Foresta di Vermi or the Forest of Worms to find a silkworm's silk. Finding a silkworm was rare. They tended to stick to the highest parts of the trees. But what he really needed to find was the silk from their cocoons. The cocoons were only located in one part of the forest, and if you were lucky, you would have a 25% chance of stumbling across it. But, after doing this quest a few times, he knew the way there by heart. And as it so turned out, the forest he landed in was the forest he has looking for so it spared him the trouble of walking there. _

_The forest was dark. The trees stretched up to the sky and blocked any light that dared come through. It was very risky to go in alone. There were a high number of monsters just waiting to ambush you at any second and to top it off, it was almost pitch black, making it hard to see. But after doing this tons of times, Tsuna weaved through the trees easily, after all, knew it like the back of his hand. _

_He came to a rest in a small clearing. Though the sun still blocked any light, you could see a sea of glistening silver cocoons hanging from branches. There must have been hundreds lining the leaves, each reflecting light off one another. It was a beautiful sight Tsuna had to admit but he wasn't here to sight see. _

_He went up to the nearest cocoon and used one of his hidden daggers to slice a thin thread. He grabbed the end of it and slowly unwound the string from the rest of the cocoon until he had two good handfuls of smooth silk from the rare item, Seta Liscia. _

_Pocketing the threads, Tsuna headed for the next town to get new gloves custom made for himself. And this time, he would get Bonifacio to raise their durability, to make them indestructible so that when he entered a battle, they wouldn't self-destruct on him._

_End of Flashback_

* * *

"Ah, you're here already? I would have expected you a little later seeing as you have school in your real life."

Tsuna let out a little 'humph,' being unexpectedly jolted back into reality (not the real world kind but the virtual reality). "Yeah, I hooked myself up to the game as soon as I could. Are you done with the gloves?"

Bonifacio snorted, "Why yes I am, just finished them actually thought you'd never ask. I noticed you spacing out a little while ago, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, just thinking, that's all."

Bonifacio placed bright orange gloves on to the counter. They still had the blue crystal in the center that came from the Drago Scales and instead of a silver 'X,' it was golden. The actual glove made out of the silk from the Seta Liscia had turned sunset orange and a lighter orange made up a flame pattern along its edges.

"Ok, I made them so that they have a high durability, it should be higher than your previous ones. They also have ability to withstand heat just like you asked for, even the hottest flame can't destroy it."

"Great, thanks a lot Bonifacio."

"Sure thing, Tsunayoshi, come again."

The brunet exited the store and headed back to the main part of town to find a quest to kill some time. He cautiously slid the gloves on, flexing one of his hands to get used to the new feeling. The gloves for some reason felt warm. Not scorching hot but just a warm, comforting kind of heat, he liked it.

Tsuna leisurely walked down the cobblestone pathways of town, enjoying the slight breeze that slid under his cape. As always, the town was as lively as ever. Gossiping, chatter, laughing, you name it.

With nothing at the top of his priority list to do at the moment, Tsuna eavesdropped on a few of the conversations going on here and there. None of them really interested him. Except for one.

"_Have you heard?"_

"_Heard what?"_

"_Y'know, the rumor going around town about a player challenging anyone he finds strong to a duel? Not only that but he also defeats every single one of them no matter how skillful."_

"_Really? That's strange. I hope don't even cross paths with this guy, I mean, after battling so many strong players he must be pretty powerful himself right?"_

"_Yeah, maybe we should move on to the next town as soon as possible."_

"_I agree."_

Tsuna kept an ear trained on the conversation. It really did pique his interest. Personally, he didn't mind if this player challenged him—he could use the experience and he hadn't fought a real opponent in a while. But he had his reasons for that—he didn't like to see injured people on the ground lying at his feet. He shuddered at the very thought. But anyways, this was a good time to test out his new gloves.

"Hey you there, I challenge you to a duel!"

Speak of the devil.

The brunet turned around and came face-to-face with a white-haired kid with fierce forest-green eyes. For some reason he looked a little familiar but he couldn't quite place a finger on it. Maybe it would come to him a little later.

"Oi, I'm talking to you, brat!" The other growled a deep scowl marred his face.

Not exactly used to this type of treatment in this game, Tsuna had to swallow a "hiiee" that was threatening to escape his mouth. But he forced on a cool façade and declared: "I accept."

* * *

**Kaa-san- a way of saying mother or mom**

**Tou-san- a way of saying father or dad**

**Città di Inizi- City of Beginnings**

**Percorso di Luce- Path of Light, the name of the 17****th**** parallel world**

**Invertire- Reverse, the name of the 14****th**** parallel world**

**Drago- dragon**

**Sangue del Serpente- Blood of the Serpent**

**Foresta di Vermi- Forest of Worms**

**Seta Liscia- Smooth Silk**

**Sorry if I confused you guys with all the Italian.**

**As for Tsuna's new gloves, just imagine how they always were before the upgrade that Talbot did during the Inheritance Arc but instead of black, they are orange. They also don't have the words Vongola Famiglia running through it because there will be no mafia in this story.**

**If you listen to the Katekyo Hitman Reborn character songs they do say 'Oozora' for sky instead of 'Sora.' If you want or haven't listened to the songs yet, listen to the song done by Tsuna called Mamoru beki Mono. **

**OK, I know some of this story doesn't exactly match what I had in the prologue (like the making of the gloves) but I didn't know how to tie it in correctly so yeah…**

**Just to clear up possible future confusion, Tsuna does kill monsters but he is reluctant to do so. He also fights other player but very rarely. He does not kill other players, he considers it a taboo to do so even though they don't die in real life.**

**I will do some further explanations about classifying players and their matching flames types later on.**

**I noticed that lots of people mention Sword Art Online in their reviews so I will mention this: this story was inspired by SAO but will not follow the same plot. (If you haven't seen this anime, you're really missing out on something, I recommend you watch it).**

**I know this usually goes before the story starts but personally I don't like it there, I'm more like "get on with the story already!" type so I'm putting it at the end. Anyways, I must thank everyone who reviewed, they seriously made me happy—so happy that I had the urge to tell everybody in my family! You don't even know how many times I read each one. So, thanks to SkyFlameLitMoon23, RagingTempestaCx, GattoV, SkyGem, mangopudding, MirageIceDragonSlayer, Vikky Plushie, Final Syai Lunar Generation, Esperanz, Dreamless-Sleep777, FireRaven99, ArcobalenoCanvas, and Aira-Chama! And thanks to all that favorited or followed this story!**

**And lastly, kudos to SkyFlameLitMoon23 for giving me absolutely awesome ideas for this story!**


	3. Chapter 2: The Heart of the Battle

Chapter 2: The Heart of the Battle

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

* * *

_World 17- Percorso di Luce_

As soon as the words left Tsuna's mouth he regretted them.

A screen popped up in front of him reading:

_Arashi has challenged you to a duel._

_Accept or Decline_

He couldn't back down now—he had already said yes. There was no going back. So, without showing any reluctance to the other, Tsuna clicked the Accept.

_Challenge accepted._

Almost immediately another screen appeared over their heads. Under the words Duel were numbers beginning their countdown from 30 seconds.

Tsuna jumped back and slipped into an attacking stance. He had his new gloves, his right hand on one of this sword's hilts and his left arm out in front of him, ready to dislodge any daggers for throwing.

The player who challenged him took a wide stance. After clicking through a few windows, a bow and arrow appeared in his hands. The bow was exquisitely designed, long and curved. It was a mix between red and gold. Red was the main color—the upper and lower limbs were red but it slowly faded to gold when it reached the arrow rest. Where the arrow rest began and ended, there were golden colored phoenix heads. The bodies of the phoenix flowed outward creating the upper and lower limbs, swirling and flaring out like mini whirlpools. At the tip and bottom of both ends of the string lay another head but instead of gold they were red. The bodies of the phoenixes arched outward then curled back inward much like the other phoenixes. The arrows were pure gold with a bright red fletching and arrowhead. All in all, it was a deadly looking weapon—breathtaking but deadly.

Tsuna tensed as the countdown neared zero. Suddenly a loud beep rang out through the air.

_Start!_

Players surrounded them on every side, wanting to watch the battle going on. They formed a circle, barely giving the duelers enough space to fight. So that gave Tsuna an advantage. It seemed like Arashi was a long-ranged attacker. He was probably of the Tempesta class or maybe Fulmine but his attitude showed Tempesta through and through.

Tsuna measured the distance between them and calculated them time it would take for an arrow to reach him. It would take about 4 seconds. Perfect.

Just as Arashi pulled an arrow out of the quiver, Tsuna dashed in, closing the distance within 2 seconds.

There was a surprised look on his face as his stance faltered before he regained his composure and used his bow to swipe at the speedy blond. That was when Tsuna noticed the sharp edge of the bow that could be used almost like a sword. This guy was crafty!

Tsuna jumped out of the way and immediately flung a dagger from his left arm. He heard it clang against the steel arch of the bow and clatter harmlessly to the ground. Narrowing his eyes, Tsuna moved in again this time using his sword to test out the string of the bow. He slashed downwards but instead of slicing through the flimsy looking string; yet again he was met with another clang.

Content with his discoveries, Tsuna flipped backwards whilst putting his sword back in its scabbard in midair. The bow itself was made out of steel probably from a high-leveled Acciaio Drago—a steel armored dragon, a monster with very high defense. The string was probably Di Coure di Drago or Dragon Heartstring—one of the hardest things in this parallel world. Arashi probably spent most of his playing time finding a weapon like this; it was made out of rare items and probably custom made by a high-leveled merchant just like his X-gloves.

Some whistles rang out into the air accompanied by fist pumps and shouts. Was the real fight about to begin? The crowd cheered happily, it sounded like a mighty roar of a monster making Tsuna almost lose his concentration, could they be a little quieter?

Currently, Arashi had the advantage. He was level 19 with a strong weapon good for both long-ranged attack and close-ranged not to mention defense. He did show the traits of a Tempesta but there were some other mixed in. Like Pioggia and Fulmine. This guy was intriguing—but that only made the fight more enjoyable. After all, when he did fight, Tsuna liked someone who put up a real challenge.

But that was only in the virtual world. Not the real world.

Still scowling, Arashi finally spoke. "What are you doing? Hurry up and fight!" He cocked his bow and arrow and shot. "Temporale Selvaggio!"

The arrow whizzed forwards, heading straight for his face. It was cloaked in a red aura but had green electricity sparking off of it.

Tsuna dodged but it slightly grazed his cheek, leaving a thin trail of blood. Tsuna had still been wearing his cloak and hood but once the arrow went whistling past, it knocked off his hood and his face was left revealed for the public to see.

Arashi gave a small inward take of breath, a slightly startled look on his face. "Y-you!"

Tsuna was surprised; he didn't expect this guy to know him. Although, he did have the feeling that he had seen this person before… Wait, what was the name of that new transfer student? Hayate? No, that didn't sound right. Was it Hayato?

Tsuna let out a little gasp of his own. "Gokudera Hayato?" he asked, still not quite sure about himself. But if it was, this Gokudera had white instead of silver hair and darker green eyes than in real life. But he still had that octopus-styled haircut.

Getting over his previous feelings, Gokudera or Arashi let out a little "Tch. You're that looser kid in my class. I can't believe I'm fighting you."

All around the crowd let out gasps of their own. What an interesting battle, the players even knew each other!

The blond felt like one of Gokudera's arrows had pierced him in the chest. This was exactly why he kept his identity hidden. No one would believe that the so-called 'Dame-Tsuna,' the class loser, would play this game let alone be able to fight. Despite the lurking pain, for some reason he felt ticked off. He'd fight against this guy to show him that he wasn't a loser. He was just as capable than any other person. He'd fight like his life depended on it!

Gee, I wonder where that came from.

Luckily, no one in the crowd seemed to be from his school. He was almost lucky for once. Now getting serious, Tsuna tightened his gloves. It was time to see what Bonifacio's tampering had done.

Concentrating, Tsuna closed his eyes and channeled his power in to the gloves. It was time to reveal the power of a Cielo class player.

"Cielo: Attaco Speciale. Fiamma del Cuore!"

A powerful blast of light orange flames erupted from the gloves. The fire spun and twisted wildly—just like how his feelings were now, in turmoil—charging at his opponent who was rooted to the spot in fright, unsure what to do.

Whoops.

Tsuna knew that his attack differed depending on his mood. That's why he called it Fiamma del Cuore. And right now, it looked like it was going to hurt. For all he knew, it might even kill. And Tsuna didn't want that. He had make a huge mistake using that attack when he knew how he was feeling. That's when he made a spit second decision.

Using his orange flames to boost his speed further, Tsuna raced over to where Gokudera was still standing stupidly. But this was no time for jokes. He tackled Gokudera to the ground and covered his body with his own. He felt the scorching blast explode right over them, feeling it burn his skin once his black cloak had been destroyed.

The blond scrunched his face up it pain. It was not a very good experience to be baked in a high-class attack. He was _not_ a happy customer.

From behind them, many players gasped at the sudden turn of events. Why would a player sacrifice himself to his own attack in the middle of a battle. Didn't he want to win? They watched the oncoming scene with bulging eyes and held breaths.

Once the flames dissipated, Tsuna shakily pushed himself off of Gokudera and stared at him straight in the eyes.

"Are you okay?" The blond asked, unsure what to do next. Maybe he should get a potion out of his inventory if Gokudera was hurt. He could think about himself later.

"I-I'm f-fine." Gokudera stuttered, much unlike his previous personality.

"I'm sorry about that, I kinda lost control back there. This is all my fault, I should have never used that attack." Tsuna scratched the back of his head nervously albeit painfully. But he tried not to show it.

"Why?" Gokudera asked.

"I'm sorry but what?"

"Why?" He repeated more strongly this time."

"Oh. Well, it was my fault so…"

"I mean why did you save me!?"

Tsuna looked back down and stared Gokudera in the face before trying to stand up, helping Gokudera up too. Tsuna sighed. "Because I felt like it. That attack would have probably have killed you straight away if I hadn't had intervened."

"You could have just let me die. It's not like we really die any way." Gokudera muttered bitterly, years of pain and sadness showing in his voice.

"But that's not true!" Tsuna exclaimed indignantly, "I think killing someone in a game is equivalent to killing a person in real life. In the game there's blood, and there's pain. They turn cold before being transported back to the town. They have feelings and emotions. They experience death only to come back and experience it once more. They still die!"

Stunned, Gokudera stared at the blond, a puzzled expression now replacing the scowl. This kid… he was truthfully stating his inner feelings. His eyes were so wide and innocent that he couldn't help but feel sadness—an emotion that he had attempted to lock up long ago.

Matching Gokudera's suprise, the crowd began to murmur amost themselves at the speech the young blond had given. There were many differing opinions but they couldn't help but be amazed at how the blond cared for players that he might not even know.

"Sorry." Uttering a single word, Gokudera looked down at the ground, alien-like feelings threatening to burst out.

"It's fine, like I said it is my fault, ne?" Tsuna smiled kindly down at the white-haired teen.

Gokudera looked up with teary eyes, speechless.

"I know! Do you want to join my party? Usually I wouldn't want to form one because I'm a solo but I think it would be a nice change to have one for once. You're a soloist too right?"

Gokudera nodded dumbly. Finally, someone had accepted him. Maybe they could be friends…

A small screen popped up. _Oozora invites you to join his party. Do you accept the invitation or decline?_

Gokudera pressed the _accept_ windowand another screen popped up in front of the blond. _What do you want to name your party?_ Suddenly, an idea poofed into his head—it was perfect!

All around, the crowd wispered and murmured almost unhappily at the different mood of the duel. Did these two players know that they were still in a duel? The winner hasn't been declared yet, they should get on with the fight and do that stuff later!

Tsuna thought deeply. He didn't know what to name the party. He never was good at naming things anyway—

"I know!" Gokudera suddenly shouted, his mood doing a complete 180. "We should name our party 'Vongola X' after the first team to complete Sette Fiamme Mondiale. And I'll call you 'Juudaime' because I know you'll become the tenth to conquer all 100 worlds!"

"E-eeeh?" All Tsuna could do was stare open-mouthed at the white-haired boy. He had to admit though; it was better than whatever he came up with. And he kind of like the idea… "That's a great idea, Arashi—or should I call you Gokudera-kun?"

"Anything is fine, Juudaime!" Gokudera suddenly looked up at him like a lost puppy, he even a tail wagging rapidly…

"Then I'll call you Gokudera-kun. And seriously, you don't have to call me Juudaime. I think Tsuna is fine."

"NO! Juudaime is Juudaime." Gokudera stated stubbornly, earning a sweat drop from the other.

Maybe he would change his mind later, Tsuna hoped. But he didn't have the time to think any further searing pain danced up throughout Tsuna's entire body.

Oh yeah, those injuries, he forgot.

The pain caused the blond to double over and fall to the ground, gasping. Why hadn't it hurt before? Maybe he was just too caught up in befriending Gokudera that he didn't notice.

The surrounding crowd didn't know what to do. Was that player going to die? Was the other going to win? Some of the players had even grown slightly attached to the tiny blond and dreaded what might come next.

The pain was unbearable, black flitted through his vision, his whole body hurt. Distantly he heard Gokudera call out a worried "Juudaime!" to him but he didn't have the strength left to keep his eyes open. He felt rough yet warm, comforting hands wrap around him. Was that Gokudera too? He didn't know, he was too worn out. That fight had exausted him, another very good reason why he didn't fight. He would always wake up in the real world and feel sore all over. Maybe he should go to sleep? Yeah that sounded good. The pain would probably be gone tomorrow after a good night's rest…

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**Hey everyone, I just realized I was calling Tsuna 'brunet' even though he has golden hair in the game. So I changed it to blond in this chapter when he's in the game. Sorry if I caused any confusion! And is it just me or do you think that this chapter was rushed and a little lame?**

**In my stories, I do not curse so any character that curses a lot might not do so as much in my fics. If they do I will use asterisks ****** like that with the beginning letter and ending letter. Sorry!**

**Rules of a duel: a player challenges someone to a duel. You can either accept or decline the request. If you accept, a larger screen pops up above the players' heads with the word Duel and a clock. The duel starts after a 30 second countdown. Then the clock begins to count again, this time timing the fight. A duel ends when one player in either killed, unable to fight, or forfeits. The winner gets a rare item and money. The loser will end up back in the starting town. Cheating is not allowed any that do are immediately given a loss.**

**Parts of a bow: the arrow rest is where the tip of an arrow lays when you ready it to shoot. The upper and lower limbs are the top and bottom of the bow where it starts to arch. The string is where you pull the arrow back; it stretches from the upper to lower limb. **

**Parts of an arrow: the fletching is the little flag like thing at the end of the bow. The arrowhead is the sharp point in the front of the bow.**

**All the credit goes to sunrise-oasis for the bow description. If you want, check out the picture of the bow I used as Gokudera's weapon, it's on deviantart at sunrise - oasis . deviantart art / Ruby - Bow - Fire - Opal - Arrow - 107042568 without the spaces**

**Arashi- storm in Japanese**

**Acciaio Drago- Steel Dragon**

**Di Coure di Drago- Dragon Heartstring**

**Temporale Selvaggio: Wild Thunderstorm- an attack that Gokudera created by cloaking an arrow in storm and lightning flames**

**Cielo: Attaco Speciale- Sky: Special Attack**

**Fiamma del Cuore- Flame of the Heart- an attack that Tsuna created that changes depending on the user's emotions. When angry, the flames are fierce and powerful. When calm, they aren't as powerful as when angry. When sad, they are weak and unstable.**

**Just like in the canon, Gokudera does have the power of all the flames except for mist and sky. Oh and yes, flames are used in this story. The flames are kind of like the magic shared throughout the virtual world.**

**To Sakura Moon: There can be an unlimited amount of players in a guild for the most part but the maximum amount would probably be about 200 or so members. I will explain flame types later.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited or alerted this story!**


	4. Chapter 3: Sparks

Chapter 3: Sparks

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

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_World 17- Percorso di Luce_

As soon as Tsuna woke up, he let out a high-pitched "Hiiieee!"

He was in an unknown room that looked almost like a doctor's office. The scent of disinfectant permeated the air—I guess that meant that is was.

Startled, the person who was sitting beside him, asleep, jumped up with a start and glanced around as if they were being attacked. But when he noticed that the bed ridden blond had only woken up, he sat back down and looked at his newfound friend in worry.

"Juudaime, are you ok?"

"E-eeh? Gokudera-kun, why are you here?" The blond asked, clueless.

"What are you talking about Juudaime? I took you here after you fainted and had this stupid doctor here treat your wounds."

Beside Gokudera, a shaggy, black-haired man stepped up while ungraciously nudging the other away. "Hey kid, normally I don't treat men but I had to make a exception when this guy over here—" He jerked his thumb over to Gokudera, "brought you here. You were in pretty bad shape y'know."

"O-oh. Thank you, I appreciate your help."

The man snorted. "My name's Trident Mosquito what's yours? All this idiot here calls you is 'Juudaime.'"

"My player name is Oozora, nice to meet you Trident Mosquito."

Suddenly, the man's blue eyes widened. "Whaaaat? You mean the famous Cielo class player, Oozora, as in that one?"

"E-eto, yep, I guess that would be me, ehehehe." Tsuna pointed nervously at himself while scratching his head.

"I heard that you're one of only 4 Cielo class players in the game out of thousand upon thousands of players, and to top it off, you're the thought to be the strongest one of them so far. I can't believe I am meeting you!" Trident Mosquito's eyes were sparkling much like Gokudera's had previously, making Tsuna sweat drop. Was he really that well known?

"Just what you expect from Juudaime. You're famous!" Gokudera joined the awkward moment, making the poor blond shrink back in to the safety of the blankets.

"A-anyway." Trident Mosquito cleared his throat and tried to act more professionally than before. "In the real world, my name is Shamal, I'm a doctor but I only treat women—you were an exception. I'll be taking my leave now." With that, Shamal picked up his briefcase that held medical items and left the room—probably off to treat some other patients.

Crossing his arms, Gokudera snorted— seemingly ticked off. "That guy, you should stay away from him if possible."

"May I ask Gokudera-kun, how you know him? It seems like you are acquaintances." Tsuna asked curiously. His wide golden eyes were large and pleading.

Unable to say no to the blond, Gokudera went on to explain. "I know him in real life as well as in this game. Before I moved to Japan, I lived in Italy. He was a tutor of mine before I left."

"Italy huh, why did you leave? You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I must be making you feel uncomfortable."

"Not at all Juudaime! It's OK, I don't mind at all. You see, I was the son of a mistress and my family didn't accept me because of that. They treated me poorly so I ran away."

"Oh. I'm sorry, Gokudera-kun."

"It's fine, Juudaime, because I got to meet you both n real life and in the game. This must be fate! No-wait—maybe it was an… an… UMA! That's right, it must be, after all how else could this have happened. An UMA must be meddling with our lives!"

Tsuna sweat dropped. An UMA? How did he reach that conclusion? What was an UMA anyways?

Tsuna gingerly stretched out and tested out his limbs. A little sore here and there but there was hardly any sign of pain at all. That doctor Shamal had done a good job. Maybe a little fresh air would help clear away any remnants of pain.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, Tsuna stood up. Gokudera fussed over him telling that he should stay in bed for a little longer but Tsuna ignored the idea and suggested that going outside would help. Gokudera reluctantly agreed and led the blond out of the small building they had stayed in.

A sweet breeze greeted the blond on the face. The fresh air calmed his nerves and soothed him. This game was almost like his home—it certainly felt like it. He smiled contentedly. If only the real world were like this.

Renewed, the blond grabbed his friend's arm and raced off into the heart of the town for some sightseeing. Of course, Tsuna knew the town pretty well, but that didn't matter.

They explored every crack and crevice of town not speaking a word until Tsuna broke the silence.

"Hey, Gokudera-kun, what happened to the duel after I fainted?"

"Hmm? Oh, I forfeited so you won just before you blacked out."

"Ah, I see, thank you Gokudera-kun." They broke back in to silence as they walked through town.

For a small lunch, they stopped by a quite little café to eat and talk a little bit before setting to off to the streets once again.

They passed hundreds of stores. They window shopped as they stared at all the different kinds of weapons and clothing, remembering stores to go back to when they had enough money to but something they wanted.

They entered a weapon store so Gokudera could look at dynamites, which were his newfound interest. After several agonizing hours of watching Gokudera try out the different kinds of explosives with a calculative eye, they finally left with one of them in much higher spirits than before.

After a few more minutes of walking aimlessly around, something slapped Tsuna hard in the face. Hewasn't wearing his cloak anymore!

Tsuna let out a little "Eep!" and dashed inside the nearest equipment store with Gokudera closely following.

Tsuna immediately headed to the various colored cloaks that hung in the back of the store. He rummaged through them looking for a black one when something caught his eye. A startling calm orange mantle with a chain connecting the two sides in the front hung innocently off to the side. The collar was up and darker orange tassels decorated the shoulders. It didn't have a hood but it was breath taking and Tsuna couldn't help but want it.

"Juudaime?" Gokudera asked cautiously.

"Hmm?" Tsuna answered, still fawning over the mantle.

"Oh! Do you want that Juudaime? I can buy it for you, I probably have enough money."

"No, no Gokudera-kun, you don't have to. I'm sure I have enough to buy it myself."

A moment of silence overcame the two before being rudely interrupted.

"Aah, so I see it caught your eye, young man?"

"A-ah-oh-uh yes sir." Tsuna stuttered. He had been so absorbed with the mantle that he didn't notice the man appear beside him.

The man let out a hearty chuckle. "You're the first to notice it my boy. Everyone else has closed their eyes and left it to go years unnoticed."

"Really? But it's so beautiful, I can't believe no one saw it."

"It takes a caring eye to see something so simple yet of big importance, my boy. Did you know, that this is just a replicate of the original one? Even this isn't the same. It was black if I remember, with red tassels instead of orange. And it had two golden chains in the front. One of a kind."

"You sound as if you've seen it, do you know who owned it?"

The old man laughed again. "Of course, I was the one who made it after all. His name was Giotto if I can remember correctly—the first to conquer all 100 parallel worlds accompanied by his party. A famous bunch I must say, every one knew them no matter which world they were in."

Tsuna's eyes shone—he loved to hear old tales about Primo and the gang.

"Giotto—the boss also known as Primo—Cielo class. Then his right-hand man G. of the Tempesta, followed by Pioggia, Asari, then came Knuckle the Sole, Lampo the Fulmine, Alaude the Nuvola, and last Daemon the Nebbia. They are considered to be the strongest players ever to exist in Sette Fiamme Mondiale, even stronger than the following bosses."

Tsuna couldn't help but show excitement. He—Oozora—would be the first player to ever exceed Primo's generation. That was his dream!

Continuing the man said "Primo was the only one to wear that cloak. After he left the game, it disappeared with him so I made a new one hoping that one day, someone would come along and challenge his power—to become the rightful successor of the title of Boss, just like Primo once had, much unlike the previous 8 bosses—they only did it for the fame. But alas, no one has stepped up to the plate but now; I think it is time to move on. Boy, you seem to be worthy enough to uphold the title of Decimo. May I bestow this mantle upon you?"

Shocked, Tsuna didn't know what to say. Yes, he had listened to the amazing tales of Primo before but he never expected _this_. He nodded dumbly and took the orange mantle from the old man's hands.

The man nudged him. "Go ahead and try it on boy."

Tsuna slipped it on. It was a perfect fit. The mantle rested perfectly on his shoulders, it wrapped around his figure so it could billow in a smooth breeze, and it was just long enough for the ends to gently brush the ground.

The man smiled. "It suits you well young man. It seems you are destined to become the tenth boss of this game."

Again Tsuna was speechless. So he settled with a deep bow and an "Arigato."

"Not a problem at all, young man. It was my pleasure. I look forward to your next visit." With that, the man turned around and disappeared within the mess of clothing and equipment.

Beside him, Gokudera had gone missing. Something must have caught his eye for him to wander off without his beloved 'Juudaime.' So, the newly clothed blond set off to find him, still bewildered by the day's strange events.

A few minutes later, the wayward Tempesta was found in front of an old poster on the wall of the store. Despite the obvious age of the board, you could easily read the information on it. It read: "_The Arcobaleno. The 8 cursed players of Sette Fiamme Mondiale_." Beneath the wording were pictures of 8 babies each with a pacifier around their necks. Each pacifier matched a color of the rainbow but there seemed to be a second blue pacifier hanging around the neck of the eighth baby.

'_Strange,'_ Tsuna thought. He had never heard of the Arcobaleno before. But from the poster, they seemed to be important_. 'No, had been important'_ Tsuna corrected himself. If this poster was as old as it looked to be and there, then the Arcobaleno must not exist anymore. Especially when he hadn't heard of them before.

"Hey, Gokudera-kun, have you ever heard of the 'Arcobaleno'?" Tsuna asked his friend.

"Not at all Juudaime, shall I go find some information concerning them?"

"Ah, no, it's OK Gokudera-kun, you don't have to, I was just wondering."

"Are you sure Juudaime? I can find an information broker."

"No it's fine" Tsuna shook his head, "I was just curious."

Together, they exited the store, unaware of the watchful eye of the old shopkeeper following them out.

* * *

_-Omake-_

"_Oooh, Juudaime, is that your new cloak? It looks wonderful on you!"_

"_Oh, this? Yeah I suppose. The old shopkeeper gave it to me. For free!"_

"_Really Juudaime? He must have really honored you, if only everyone would. They should see just how great you are!"_

"_Umm I think that I'm happy just the way it is now, Gokudera-kun."_

"_Are you sure Juudaime? I could blast holes through those lousy players if you want!" The white-haired teen pulled out his newly bought bombs from his jacket and glanced around, ready to throw them._

_The blond pounced on his friend to prevent him from killing innocent players. "Stop! Gokudera-kun, I said it was fine."_

"_If you say so Juudaime."_

_The poor blond sighed. Was he really stuck with this over-protective puppy?_

* * *

**Character profiles:**

**Trident Mosquito/Shamal: A perverted doctor who only treats women both in the real world and the virtual one. He has shaggy black hair and blue eyes in the game but dark brown hair and brown eyes in the real world. He usually wears a white doctor's coat and carries around a briefcase filled with his equipment.**

**Oozora/Sawada Tsunayoshi: A teen of 13 years old who plays the game Sette Fiamme Mondiale. His goal is to become the tenth successor of the game and to surpass the first boss. In the virtual world, he has golden eyes with matching hair that sticks up in all directions. In the real world, he has chestnut brown hair with the same colored eyes.**

**Arashi/Gokudera Hayato: A transfer student from Italy who moved to Japan because of family issues. He is currently in Tsuna's class. In the game he has white hair of the same squid style as in the real world with dark green eyes. In real life, he has silver hair and light, emerald-green eyes. Calls Tsuna 'Juudaime.'**

**Shopkeeper: A mysterious old man who talks about the Primo generation as if he knew them. He gave Tsuna a replica of Primo's cloak telling him to become the new 'Decimo.'**

**Players in the game can get hurt and remain with injuries for a span of time. You can only use potions to replenish your health not to heal your injuries.**

**Hey everyone! Sorry for not updating for a few days. I had a busy schedule so I didn't have time to type this up. Anyways, I hope this chapter didn't disappoint you. Personally, I'm not really happy with it but tell me what you think in your reviews. I made some changes to the previous chapter, there is just a little more interaction with the crowd but that's all. And before I forget, thanks to everyone who favorited, followed or reviewed. Ciao!**


	5. Chapter 4: A Foot in Between

Chapter 4: A Foot in Between

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! **

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**Author's note: I might as well mention this beforehand. I'm sorry if some of you were looking forward to Yamamoto's appearance but I'm actually going to mix the order up and have Hibari go next because of the way the plot is heading at the moment. Sorry!**

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_World 10- Riflessione_

_(Reflection)_

"Hey, isn't that Dame-Tsuna from our class?"

"Yeah, I think so. But what is he doing here? I bet he fails at everything."

Tsuna ducked his head and looked at the ground trying to ignore the stares and whispers. It seemed like many of his classmates hung around the 10th world. What luck. Of course, he wasn't here just to have fun—he was here for business, along with Gokudera-kun of course. They had to submit their official party papers and stuff before they could be recognized by formal events. After this was completed, they could enter competitions and monthly tournaments and win both prizes and fame.

The two entered a large shop titled: "Party Registration" and stepped inside. The blond gulped nervously. When he wrote down his information, would they recognize the name Oozora?

They waited in line for a short period of time before stepping up to a counter. There was a person behind the counter looking slightly bored after doing the same routine countless times.

"Hello, would you like to register your party?"

"Umm, y-yes p-please." Tsuna stuttered—a habit he thought he left behind in the real world.

"Alright, fill out this form right here. Make sure you include your player name, party name, and flame classification." The man handed them a pen then went back to lazily staring at a spot on the wall.

Reluctantly, Tsuna filled out his information.

Player Name: Oozora

Flame Classification: Cielo

Party Name: Vongola X

Then, he continued to fill out a few more things before pushing the paper back over to the man. Gokudera did the same when he finished.

The man gave a half-hearted glance at the papers and he was about to look away when he caught the words "Oozora and Vongola" and rapidly glanced up and down from the paper to the boys in front of him. He brought a scrutinizing gaze scoring across each boy before letting his eyes drop and pressing a large stamp on to each paper.

"Right then, I'll need to take your profile pictures, please follow that red arrow over there and I'll meet you."

Gokudera and Tsuna obeyed and worked their way through the crowd over to where the man was already tapping his foot impatiently.

"Stand right over there and it'll take only a few seconds." The man stepped behind a complicated looking camera and snapped a few shots of each boy before printing the best one out. Then, they proceeded back to their original place behind the counter.

The man clipped their photos to their information and sighed. "If you get a new party member, make sure you go to another registration building and have them officially join your group. Remember that the party registration buildings are every ten worlds. Thank you for coming." The man then went back to his staring as the two players walked out of the building.

Tsuna felt his breath leave him. Did he notice the name? It seemed like it but he never made a comment. But, now that that was over with, maybe it was time to have a little fun. There was a flyer hanging off a brick wall with bright letters catching everyone's attention. It read: Ring Competition! Anyone can enter but you must have at least 7 players in your party. The rules go as always, no cheating, items may be used, and no killing. The top parties will be recognized as the strongest of the first 50 worlds. You can enter your party at the stadium in Città di Inizi of World 25.

There was a large crowd surrounding the flyer and both Tsuna and Gokudera pushed their way through to get a good look.

Seven players huh? They only had two, if they wanted to enter; they had to find a five more party members first. So, today would be spent finding a new member or possibly new members for Vongola X.

* * *

When Tsuna woke up, he felt defeated. He and Gokudera had spent the full day in Sette Fiamme Mondiale trying to find a player but who wanted to join Dame-Tsuna's party? Of course, they still trained and owned their skills too, they couldn't be beaten right away could they? Together, Tsuna and Gokudera had trained themselves to dodge and block each other's attacks and then counter. The training seemed to have worked because for some reason, Tsuna—in the real world—felt a little less 'Dame' today. Strange

Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice calling something out—'_Gokudera-kun'_?

"OHAYO, JUUDAIME!" Gokudera was rapidly knocking on his door and calling to him at the same time. Wait. How did he know where he lived?

Sighing, Tsuna slipped out of bed and got ready for school. Today was a Monday; he wouldn't have as much time to play the game as he did without school. And the competition was in less than a week. If they wanted to enter, there had to be a third player.

Tsuna went downstairs, tripping in the process, earning another bruise for his body. He took a piece of toast from the counter that he made the night or so before and then headed out.

There, Gokudera was waiting patiently. "Ohayogozaimasu, Juudaime!" He bowed in a 90-degree angle with his arms at his sides.

"O-ohayo, Gokudera-kun." Tsuna let out a half-smile.

"Juudaime, we must find our third party member, maybe we can find one at school!"

"A-ah, yeah." Tsuna replied, getting pulled along by the hyperactive silveret.

Unsurprisingly, they made it to school on time by their mad dash there.

'_I guess Hibari-san won't bite me to death today.' _Tsuna thought happily. But sadly, the bloodthirsty school prefect was patrolling the school grounds and blocking the way to the entrance.

The brunet sighed; luck was never on his side.

* * *

The prefect caught sight of the pair._ 'An unusual combination.' _Hibari mused. The hot-headed herbivore and the weak herbivore, interesting. He headed over to them where the weak herbivore was cowering behind the hot-headed one. Earlier today, he had heard some rumors going about how 'Dame-Tsuna' played Sette Fiamme Mondiale. It peaked his interest just the slightest bit though. After all, he still was just a weak herbivore. But, he still needed someone to beat up and if the weak herbivore wasn't late today, who could be bitten to death? All those other herbivores were boring. So, he decided to bite that weak herbivore to death—despite him not being late.

"Hiiiee!" Tsuna shrieked when he saw Hibari charge at him madly. He was on time for Pete's sake!

Gokudera immediately noticed the incoming threat and stood protectively in front of Tsuna. "Don't worry Juudaime, I'll blast anyone who dares harm you to pieces!" He then slid his hands in to his school uniform and pulled out dynamites. Wait, when did he get dynamites? They were only supposed to stay in the game!

"A-ah Go-gokudera-kun!" Clumsily, Tsuna tried to snatch the dynamites from Gokudera's hands before they were thro—

Oops.

Lit, at least 12 sticks of explosives fell to the ground right in front of Tsuna and Gokudera.

"Hiiee! Quick put them out!" Tsuna madly looked around but everyone had disappeared in fear of being blown up. A few kids were standing far off, watching the scene through binoculars, wanting to see what would happen.

With no one coming to their aid, Tsuna rapidly pinched the fuses before they caused the dynamite to explode. It hurt but it was better than getting blown to pieces as Gokudera had said.

When they were all out, Tsuna sat back and wiped the sweat off his forehead and sighed in relief. Of course, as always, there was one thing he was forgetting.

A steel tonfa came smashing down and suddenly, relying on his instinct, Tsuna rolled away and the tonfa landed, breaking the ground where his head had laid. He stood up and prepared for the next barrage of attacks that came only seconds later.

Left, right, down, right. Tsuna chanted in his head as he dodged the swinging tonfas, focusing only on the weapons. Suddenly, he saw an opening. In the midst of his attacks, Hibari had left his chest area wide open. Willing his legs to move quickly, Tsuna dashed in but was almost immediately stopped by Hibari who had noticed the attempt and brought one of his weapons across his body to block.

'_Huh,'_ Tsuna thought, _'the practice routines really do help if they work in real life as well as the virtual world.'_ Usually, his skills wouldn't transfer but that wasn't much of a surprise because he was in a game. But after repeating the same drills over and over, it was all instinct.

Hibari smirked. Maybe the weak herbivore wasn't as weak as he looked. He stopped attacking and stood still. He stared at the herbivores for a bit before forcing himself to speak.

"Do you play Sette Fiamme Mondiale, Herbivore?"

Surprised at the sudden change of mood, Tsuna nodded dumbly. "H-hai."

Hibari let his lips quirk upward the slightest bit. "I challenge you to a duel tonight, in world 20. Do not decline."

"A-ah, hai."

With that, Hibari turned on his heel and stalked off scaring all those bystanders who had hung around to watch the battle.

Gokudera rushed over to Tsuna and fussed over him. "Juudaime, are you OK? Did that stupid prefect hurt you?"

"I'm fine Gokudera-kun. Thank you."

Still not very far off, Hibari spun around. "Herbivore, what's your player name?"

Stiffening, Tsuna replied. "It's Oozora."

* * *

**Riflessione: Reflection- the 10****th**** world**

**Ohayo: I think it means morning**

**Ohayogozaimasu: Good morning**

**Hello, sorry for not updating sooner. A lot of things are going on and I had no time whatsoever to type this chapter up. I hope it was acceptable, it was a little shorter than usual. I didn't really like it myself but anyways, I hope you don't mind Hibari's appearance and I hope I did his character all right. I'm sorry if he seems a little OOC. (And I'm sorry if there are any confusing sentences of grammatical errors, I kind of rushed to get this chapter out. Just tell me if there are any and I'll fix it).**

**Just to let you know, it never crossed my mind that Tsuna's schoolmates would recognize him now that he doesn't wear a hood. Yeah I know I do one thing but forget the next second even if it is important, stupid right? But, can you live with the change? Maybe I'll twist the plot line a little bit so that he doesn't wear a hood for a reason. But I don't know how I'd do that. Oh well. **

**Back on topic, when I introduce Lambo, what do you want his age to be? I mean we can't have a 5 year old playing and RPG can we? So I'll let you decide. 5 or Tsuna's age, 13? And one more thing, you know how I have their player names as the Japanese attributes like Oozora and Arashi? It suddenly hit me that there are two Kiri's and I can't have two of them with the same name. So, one would be Kiri—probably Mukuro—but what about Chrome?**

**And one more thing before I end my ramblings, I know in an earlier chapter how I said that Tsuna's skills never seemed to follow him to the real world but after training a lot in the virtual world with another person (which he didn't have at first because he was a solo), his movements became a almost like a habit so now he's a little less dame in the real world. I hope you don't mind but I needed to get Hibari interested in him so that they could have a duel.**

**Thanks to everyone who alerted, favorited, or reviewed. Ciao!**


	6. Chapter 5: And so it Begins

Chapter 5: And so it Begins

**Disclaimer: I have a wish… but I don't think it will ever come true.**

**I'm sorry before hand if anyone is OOC**

* * *

_'Oozora huh.'_ Hibari thought as a small smirk worked its way across his lips. _'This will be interesting.'_

* * *

The rest of the day went ever so slowly. There were tons of whispers about Dame-Tsuna and the bloodthirsty prefect, Hibari having a duel on the 20th world. No doubt when the duel started, many onlookers would be from Namimori Chuu. Tsuna felt many stares bore holes through his back as he attended school that day. Most of them, he felt, were from the infamous prefect.

Worried, Tsuna tried to run many battle strategies through his head but to no avail. He could only do that in the game. So he had to wait. Gokudera comforted him and told him that he didn't have to fight. But Tsuna told him that it was OK, Hibari would bite him to death if he didn't fight. Of course dueling might be worse than getting bitten to death but…

He sighed for the umpteenth time that day. From his desk, he looked out the window. He stared at the deep blue sky and felt himself calm down. A single cloud drifted slowly, inching it's way across the never-ending blue. He gazed at the sky for a long time before he was snapped out of his daze by a piece of chalk piercing his head.

"I-ite!" Tsuna shouted, surprised at the sudden impact. Many students laughed at his antics and Tsuna couldn't help but feel a blush work its way up his cheeks.

From his seat, Gokudera abruptly stood up and slammed his hands on his desk. "Teme! How dare you hurt Juudaime!" The teacher who was the direct object of the verbal abuse cringed and tried to put on an indignant face.

"Don't talk back to your teacher Gokudera! And Sawada, pay attention in class!"

Gokudera let out a loud "Tch" and Tsuna nodded with a quiet "Hai, sensei.," pink still staining his cheeks.

Grumbling about delinquents and ignorant kids, the teacher turned back to the black board and resumed class.

The day dragged on, with many of the same events happening with different teachers. Finally, as soon as the day ended, Tsuna rushed out of the school gates with Gokudera rushing to catch up.

The bullies who constantly beat Tsuna up had mysteriously disappeared, no doubt also rushing home to watch the duel that was going on that night.

* * *

Once they reached the Sawada residence, Tsuna called out "Tadaima!" to nobody in particular. His parents were never home to greet him, but he just said it to liven up the atmosphere. Not that it helped much.

Tsuna and Gokudera both finished their homework together after going through many trial and error. Gokudera helped the brunet understand some concepts before going in to full-length detail about them, boring the poor brunet for hours on end. But, some of it seemed to work and by the time they had finished, Tsuna had gotten most of the questions correct.

They headed back downstairs where Tsuna made a simple dinner along with Gokudera who complimented on his cooking skills the whole time. When dinner was finished, Gokudera, who had magically brought along his gaming system, and Tsuna hooked themselves up and entered the world of Sette Fiamme Mondiale.

Bright lights of many colors flashed by in a tunnel-like fashion before Tsuna finally found himself back at the login screen. He went through the same routine and before he knew it, he was in the same world where he had logged out—World 10- Riflessione— in Città di Inizi.

A little tight on schedule, Tsuna found Gokudera and together, they teleported to World 20, Far Sparire (vanish).

A duel will always take place in Città di Inizi, where they have a separate dueling area for those who battle. So, by the dueling grounds, Tsuna and Gokudera found a player with similar looks to their school prefect. His hair was as black as it always was but instead of steely grey eyes, he had dark, angry-red eyes, taunting anyone who dared to cross their path. He wore a black jacket over a white shirt, much like what he wore in the real world. His pants were a bland grey, giving him an almost colorless look. Probably so he didn't attract much attention. Just like in reality, he brandished steel tonfas that if possible, looked even deadlier than they did in real life.

Hibari's striking red eyes caught sight of the two almost immediately. He pulled up a screen and pressed a few buttons. A window popped up in front of Tsuna:

_Kumo challenges you to a duel._

_Accept or Decline? _

Feeling something akin to déjà vu, Tsuna clicked the 'accept' and the countdown began.

Many schoolmates formed the crowd along with a few outsiders. Tsuna could pick out all of his bullies despite their altered appearance—_'There's Mochida, and there's Osamu.' _Tsuna thought wryly. _'They're probably here to make fun of me.' _

Focusing back on the incoming fight, Tsuna readied himself. He put on his X-gloves and shook his arms slightly to loosen up the muscles for throwing his knives. Subconsciously, he made sure the heavy weight of his blades rested on his back, comforting for what was coming the slightest bit. Ready.

The countdown neared zero… BEEEP! The sign to begin had sounded.

All around, the crowd began to cheer—most likely (despite how much they feared him) for Hibari. No one cheered for Tsuna. Except for his trusty companion, Gokudera, who was yelling at everyone around him for not rooting for "Juudaime." The subjects to his shouts slowly tried to scoot away before something bad happened between them and the bomber/archer.

Immediately, there was a streak of black and Hibari appeared in front of Tsuna.

'_He's fast!' _Tsuna thought, his eyes widening.

A silver tonfa came swinging at his head and Tsuna barely dodged it. He saw a few strands of hair fall off of his head and gulped. He wouldn't be having an easy time defeating Hibari. He might have to get serious right away. And that's what he did.

The left tonfa came hurling towards him and almost as fast as lightening itself, Tsuna pulled out one of his swords from it's sheathe. He blocked the tonfa, causing a loud 'clang!' that rang through the air.

The crowd gasped at the skill of the one they called 'Dame-Tsuna.' Well, most of them anyway.

At the sudden block, Tsuna and Hibari found themselves nose-to-nose with their respective eyes glaring at each other.

"Hn. Not bad Herbivore." Hibari smirked, forcing the tonfa forward, trying to push away the sword.

"Same goes for you, Hibari-san." Tsuna answered, keeping a straight face, using just as much force against Hibari's tonfa.

Suddenly, the right tonfa swung in, aiming for his stomach. With, quick reflexes, Tsuna let the force of his sword weaken and then slipped under the incoming tonfa. The sudden lack of pressure caused Hibari to stumble forwards a little bit. Tsuna used the opportunity to unbalance him and knock him to the ground. Using the flat side of his sword, he knocked Hibari's tonfas out of his hands. They slid across the ground, far away from reach.

But instead of trying to escape and get ahold of his weapons again, Hibari reached in to this jacket for something new.

Thinking it might have been a grenade or something of that sort, Tsuna jumped backwards, distancing himself in case of an explosion. But instead that, Hibari pulled out something unexpected. A pair of purple handcuffs.

Standing up, Hibari twirled the handcuffs around his fingers. "Prepare to be bitten to death. Herbivore."

* * *

**Riflessione: Reflection- 10****th**** world**

**Città di Inizi: City of Beginnings**

**Far Sparire: Vanish- 20****th**** world**

**At this point in the game, Tsuna is now level 21 as is Gokudera so they are able to access world 20.**

**To Kimichee: Yes, there will not be any pairings.**

**Sorry for the short chapter and if it has a lot of errors. I haven't proofread it yet because I rushed to get this chapter out. If there are any mistakes, don't hesitate to tell me! The beginning seemed a little rushed, don't you think?**

**Anyways, I must ask you readers; do you want Yamamoto to attempt suicide in this story or meet Tsuna some other way? Anyways thank you for your opinions about Lambo's age and the two pineapples' names. I decided to make Lambo 10. But I haven't decided on anything about the pineapples yet so yeah… Thanks!**

**Arigato to those who faved, followed or reviewed! I'll give you a virtual HDWM Tsuna! I'll take your comments to heart and use them to improve my story.**

**Ciao~**


	7. Chapter 6: Herbivores and Carnivores

Chapter 6: Herbivores and Carnivores

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

**Sorry beforehand if anyone is OOC**

* * *

_World 20- Far Sparire_

_(Vanish)_

'_Purple handcuffs?'_ Tsuna thought, clueless. _'How can you fight with handcuffs?'_ With these thoughts, Tsuna let down his guard, which was his biggest mistake.

Hibari dashed forward, his black coat flapping wildly behind him. He held the pair in one hand and suddenly, spikes came out of the inner side of the cuff.

The crowd oohed and aahed in wonder as they watched the scene unfold. Their school prefect sure knew how to make use of his weapons.

Before Tsuna knew it, Hibari was on top of him and even more before he knew it, there was a handcuff chained around his arm. The handcuff was suddenly enveloped in a violet flame with a dark purple core. Tsuna gasped. Hibari seemed to be able to control his flames already. Of course, he and Gokudera knew how to also but it took tons of training to be able to light a spark. These were cloud flames, one of the hardest flames to control due to its propagation ability. And to top it off, these were on full blast!

The handcuff around his wrist began to multiply. In a single blink, they had already climbed up his arm and the spikes were digging in to his flesh. Tsuna had to think fast if he wanted to get out of this. Maybe it was time to unleash his flames.

The blond closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to ignore the pain from the spikes. He felt a warm prickling under his skin that washed over his whole body. This new move wasn't perfected yet, he still had a long way to go with it and for some reason, it seemed like something missing but… this was a good time to try it out.

When Tsuna opened his eyes, they flashed a brilliant orange. His gloved hands had been spared from the multiplying handcuffs so Tsuna used to opportunity to turn his flames on.

A blast of light orange flames radiated from his gloves and slowly turned Hibari's purple handcuffs to stone. Tsuna shook off the bits of broken rock and slid back in to an attacking stance. This time, he would not let his guard down.

"Goooooo Juuuudaaaimeee! Beat the crap out of that bast**d" A certain white-headed player yelled from the crowd, scaring off everyone who was near him. Tsuna sweat dropped.

Hibari's blood-red eyes widened a fraction of a millimeter before returning to their usual glare. He smirked. This was getting interesting.

Twirling his handcuffs once again (he had saved the original pair from the petrification) he swung at the evasive blond. But, instead of hitting the intended mark, Tsuna caught his arm and twisted him down to the ground.

Hibari landed with a dull thud but refused to show any pain. Quickly, Tsuna placed himself over him; he took his sword and held it against Hibari's neck. The school prefect scowled slightly before roughly jerking his handcuffs at the sword, knocking it away. Hibari rolled off to the side and then stood back up, distancing himself a good few meters.

As it turned out that Hibari was trying to reach his tonfas. When he rolled away, he got one of his tonfas that was lying on the ground. The other was on the other side of the battlefield. He was probably going for that one next.

But Tsuna wouldn't let that happen. He sheathed his sword and began to concentrate his flames to his gloves. As soon as he felt it was enough, he let it out in a powerful blast.

'_Incendiare!' _

Tsuna swung his arms out to the side. Two horizontal crescent waves of flames came pouring out of the gloves. The arcs hurled toward Hibari at a high speed who tried to move out of their path. He managed to escape the brunt of the blast but his black jacket had been singed slightly and one side of his face was lightly burned.

"Hn. Not bad herbivore." Hibari smirked.

Surrounding them, the crowd cheered. It seemed like Dame-Tsuna wasn't too bad in a fight.

"Thanks, not bad yourself either, Hibari-san." Tsuna answered back.

"Hmph. I'll bite you to death." Hibari dashed forward with one tonfa and a pair of handcuffs in each hand. He clipped the handcuffs around Tsuna's body and they began to multiply, creeping up his arm yet again. While the blond was chained to place, Hibari swung his tonfa at his face, aiming to knock him out while he was immobilized.

But, the blond leaned backwards so the steel weapon passed over his head harmlessly. Then, he swept Hibari's legs out from under him and broke the handcuffs that restricted some of his movements. He back flipped away and landed gracefully while Hibari was still getting up.

Tsuna raced back to the raven-haired teen. Hand-to-hand combat might not seem like the best idea considering Hibari's steel tonfas and multiplying handcuffs. And blasting him with fire wouldn't always work when Hibari's speed and dodging skill was pretty high. So what could be done?

Tsuna drew both of his swords, one in each hand. The blade in his left hand was a black rapier with a complex hilt filled with intimidating spikes and curves. The one in his right was a long sword designed specially for one-handed use (they're usually two-handed swords). It was the standard silver color with a red grip. He sighed, he really should get matching blades, the ones he had now were different weights, throwing him off slightly.

He sliced downward with his rapier but it was expertly blocked by Hibari's tonfa. Then, he came in with long sword, managing to nick him on the arm. Blood welled and started to drip down, making small "plicks" against the dirt.

Tsuna winced—he didn't like the sight of blood.

After exchanging a few more blows, they drew apart, each with new scratches and cuts that hadn't been there previously. They were both panting but not heavily. The duel had been drawn out too long— someone had to fall soon.

Tsuna ran towards Hibari once again. He alternated the movement of his blades, going back and forth between the two. He didn't let up his barrage of attacks but Hibari wouldn't back down either. He blocked each blow with a tonfa or his seemingly very durable handcuffs.

The blond left no room for his opponent to attack, and soon, Tsuna had knocked him back to the ground and had both blades pressing against his throat in an 'X'. Hibari had been cornered. He couldn't escape now.

Hibari's eyes were wide. They showed no fear, only surprise. How could he have been beaten by an herbivore?

Just as Tsuna was going to finish it (not by killing him), a loud buzzer sounded, piercing through the tense air. As soon as it stopped, a screen flashed brightly, catching the eyes of many. It read:

_Draw_

The screen flashed about 10 times before it flickered off. There was a deathly silence.

Suddenly there was a loud cheer from the crowd. Dame-Tsuna might not have officially beaten the school prefect but it looked like Dame-Tsuna would've if there had been enough time.

"Congratulations! Juudaime!" Gokudera came racing over to the shocked blond who was still standing over a scowling Hibari.

Tsuna snapped out of his daze. How did he manage to survive against most feared person of Namimori with time limit of a 30-minute duel? "A-ah, I didn't really beat him, Gokudera-kun. It was a draw." Tsuna gingerly stepped away from the prefect who got up and turned away, brushing dirt off his jacket.

"No! Juudaime beat that bast**d, fair and square." Gokudera denied, his eyes shining cheerfully.

"E-eto, Gokudera-kun, a draw is a draw. And anyways I don't think I would've been able to beat him." Tsuna's orange eyes had returned to their regular golden color and he slipped off his gloves and put them back into his inventory. He hadn't worn his orange mantle during the battle in fear of it getting ruined by the fight.

Gokudera frowned. "If you say so Juudaime."

While they had been talking, Hibari started to stalk away. He picked up his fallen tonfa and put it back to wherever he keeps them. He let loose a giant, irritated aura so no one dared approach him.

"A-ah, wa-wait! Hibari-san!" Tsuna called out helplessly, standing a good distance away.

But Hibari ignored the call and continued to stalk off.

"Wait, Hibari-san, would you like to join our party? We're looking for a third member and I'm sure it'd be nice to have one. Being a solo can get lonely sometimes!"

"Hmph. I hate crowding. Especially with herbivores."

"Teme! How dare you talk like that to Juudaime! He's offering you something so you should accept!" Gokudera yelled, ticked off.

"Eeeh? Gokudera-kun, calm down!" Tsuna rushed to hold his bomber friend down so he wouldn't go off and blast the prefect in to bits. "I won't push you but we're going to enter a competition and we need a third player."

"Like I said, I hate crowding." Hibari retorted and resumed walking away.

"I'm sure there'll be a lot of strong players to fight!" Tsuna called helplessly.

Hibari froze. He didn't turn around but he spoke, almost reluctantly. "Fine. Just for now. I will leave once it is over."

Tsuna let out a relieved smile. He flicked his wrist and a screen popped up in front of him. He clicked a few windows then waited. In front of Hibari, another screen popped up.

_Oozora invites you to join his party. _

_Accept or Decline._

Hibari pressed 'Accept' then walked away, off to let out some steam on a few monsters most likely.

_Kumo accepts you invitation. Please register your new member at the Party Registration building at the nearest city._

Tsuna sighed, Hibari was a strong member to have but he was hard to control, like a cloud drifting across the limitless sky, tied down by nothing. Tsuna looked upwards; maybe a little training would do before logging out for the day.

Around them, the crowd had dispersed, content with the duel—it had put on a good show. Of course, no one decided to congratulate Dame-Tsuna so they left to do other things. And no one dared approach Hibari.

Tsuna glanced at Gokudera who was smiling cheerfully at him. Then he looked over to where Hibari had disappeared. _'I guess the family is getting bigger.' _He thought. _'Is that a good thing or a bad thing?'_ He sighed once again. Now that many of his schoolmates knew he was Oozora from both the duel and him telling Hibari in real life, things would get a little more hectic.

"Hiiee!" Tsuna shrieked as he pulled his hair frantically. Would that mean more bullies?

* * *

**Incendiare: burn or set fire to.**

**Far Sparire: Vanish- the 20****th**** parallel world**

**Character Profiles:**

**Hibari Kyoya: Namimori Chuu's head prefect of the Disciplinary Committee. He is known to like to fight strong opponents. He considers everyone to be Herbivores and only considers himself as a Carnivore. He is currently 15 years old. In the game, he has raven-black hair and red eyes. He wears a black long-sleeved coat over a white dress shirt and he has grey trousers. His weapons of choice are steel grey tonfas like what he uses in the real world and he also uses purple handcuffs ringed with spikes. They are able to multiply due to the propagation technique of the cloud flame. In real life, his appearance isn't that different. He has black hair and cold, grey eyes. He wears a black jacket with a red armband. He has a white undershirt and black pants. He uses tonfas to bite people to death. **

**Hello everybody, I can't believe it, 100+ reviews! I don't know how to thank you. But anyways, I hope this chapter was acceptable, Hibari's kind of hard to work with, I hope he doesn't seem too OOC to you. **

**I think I will name Mukuro Kiri and Chrome Kirisame, which means drizzle. Sorry if I didn't pick your idea, they were all wonderful!**

**By the way, if you haven't listened to it before, listen to Hibari's character song Horizon, I suppose it kind of goes with this chapter.**

**Thank you to all of you who faved, followed, and reviewed. This time I'll give you a virtual Hibari doll!**

**And one last thing, HAPPY BIRTHDAY REBORN! (I wanted to make a short omake for him but he isn't in the story yet and I didn't know what to do about it so yeah…).**

**Ciao~**

**P.S- See you tomorrow for a special chapter. Stay tuned!**


	8. SFM Special: Birthday Omake

Sette Fiamme Mondiale: Birthday Omake

**Disclaimer: I don't own KHR!**

**Time period: After meeting all his guardians**

**Place: In-game**

**Warning: Unedited. Proceed with caution!**

**Please note that this chapter has nothing to do with the real story line.**

* * *

Not long after Tsuna logged in and his friends were all gathered around him, a flashing rainbow-colored screen popped up above his head.

_Happy Birthday! _

The game system began to play a birthday tune. When it finished, the screen blinked off.

Around him, his friends were staring at him. Some were wide-eyed with their mouths hanging open, and some turned away and tried to ignore him.

The silence was finally broken when Gokudera spoke up.

"Ju-juudaime…" His eyes here shadowed by his hair and his face was expressionless. "Y-you never told us it was your birthday!" He suddenly looked up with teary eyes, silently asking why.

"Hahaha, yeah Tsuna, why didn't you tell us?" Yamamoto forced a laugh and his eyes were set in a fake smile.

The rest stayed silent. Tsuna spoke up. "E-eto, umm. Birthdays aren't that important—nothing happens, and you don't feel any different. And anyways, why celebrate when you have no one to celebrate with? My parents are never home."

"But Juudaime! That doesn't mean you can let it pass like it was nothing. You have us now!"

"Taco-head is EXTREMELY right Sawada! We'll celebrate with you!"

"Gyahahaha, Lambo-san will eat the cake!"

"Bossu, I don't mind celebrating."

"Kufufu. You sure are interesting, Sawada Tsunayoshi. But I'll do whatever my dear Chrome chooses."

"Hn. Stupid Herbivore."

"Ehh? Really you guys? You don't have to. It doesn't really matter." Tsuna responded, scratching his head nervously.

"It's fine, Tsuna, let's go. I know a good place to have some fun!" Yamamoto raced off with everyone else following after him.

The blond followed albeit reluctantly, he didn't want to impose or anything. But, maybe it would be OK just this once.

* * *

Tsuna's eye twitched. Instead of going to where Yamamoto wanted to go, Hibari had threatened them saying that he'd bite them to death if they didn't follow him first. When they had finally stopped walking, they stood in front of a large open courtyard with a beat-up sign off to the side reading:

_Monster Bash. Defeat as many monsters as possible within the time limit._

Tsuna felt his stomach churn uncontrollably. Typical Hibari.

Hibari walked up to a small shack and went inside. Within a few seconds, after some loud shouts and bangs that came from the shack, Hibari came back out smirking. "Herbivores." He jerked his chin over to the court—and order for them to follow them walked past the gates and stepped inside the boundaries.

As soon as the rest of them walked in, a loud beep sounded and almost immediately, growls and cries began to surround them. All around, large beasts came out from the shadows—at least 15 Cani di Morte, 10 or so Sangue Cani, and 20 Lupo Vespe.

The 8 of them got in to fighting stances, each with their own respective weapon. As the monsters drew closer, they tensed then leapt in to battle.

Tsuna blasted the beasts away with his flames one by one but they wouldn't stop coming. When one went down, 2 more popped up. It seemed like a never-ending battle.

Suddenly, he felt a large 'Thump' and searing pain raced down his back. "Gah!" He fell to the ground and tried to regain his breath. Was this Hibari's idea of fun? He shakily stood back up, coming face-to-face with the largest Sangue Cani he had ever seen. Its jaws were open wide, saliva dripping down his fangs, and its blood-red eyes were widened with a crazy glare.

"Hiiiiieeeee!"

Tsuna and his friends lay on the dirt, panting heavily. Each of them had fresh cuts and bruises and was worn out. Tsuna briefly glanced up and saw that Hibari and Mukuro were the only ones standing albeit a little wearily. He closed his eyes for a little bit, trying to enjoy the slight breeze and ignore the scene of the battle.

Above them, a screen popped up.

_Congratulations! You have defeated all the monsters, would you like to advance to the next level? _

Hibari made a move to press 'yes' but Tsuna hastily pushed himself up and dashed over to stop him. "N-no way! I think we've had enough!"

Hibari turned around and smirked at him. "Happy birthday. Omnivore." Then, he turned back around and clicked 'yes'.

"Uuuusssoooo!"

* * *

_Later that day… _

"Hey Tsuna, I guess it's my turn now, huh?" Yamamoto laughed heartily. "C'mon, I'll take you to the park!"

Yamamoto let Tsuna and the rest of the gang over to a large, open field in the shape of a diamond.

It took Tsuna only a second for him to realize it was a baseball field. He sweat dropped, were they going to play baseball now? Wait. Since when did they have a baseball park in a virtual reality game?!

"Hey Tsuna, over here, let's play baseball!" Yamamoto handed the blond a bat and he tossed a ball up and down himself. "We won't have enough players but we can split up in half to form the teams. I'll be with Gokudera, Lambo, and Chrome. You'll be team captain with Hibari, Mukuro, and Senpai."

"Teme! I should be on the same team as Juudaime, he shouldn't be with that stupid Turf-top, blood-thirsty prefect or that pineapple bast**d!"

"Maa maa, Gokudera, I'm sure Tsuna is fine with it. OK, let's go!" Yamamoto raced off to the pitcher's mound.

'_You're wrong!' _Tsuna thought, _'I don't want to be stuck on a team with these people!' _He slowly walked up to the batter's box as he was the first one up to bat. Baseball can't be that hard right?

The game started and almost right away, Yamamoto's eyes narrowed and his mouth was set in a thin, straight line. He pitched the ball with amazing speed and Tsuna had a hard time following it. Before he knew it, there was a loud "whizz!" past his ear then a loud cry of "strike!"

The game went on much like this for the next few minutes with Tsuna striking out continuously. It turned out that Hibari had walked off, not wanting to play a game for 'Herbivores,' Mukuro was standing by the sidelines going "Kufufufufu" endlessly, and Ryohei punched the balls instead of using the bat. Soon, it was time to switch sides and Tsuna became the pitcher. When he threw, it landed only 30 feet away, less than half the distance from the pitcher's mound to home plate! So, Ryohei switched out with Tsuna but the balls ended up way behind them or off in the bushes. One even managed to smack a sleeping Hibari in the head, ending up with all of them being bitten to death.

They game was never finished and they walked away from the half-destroyed baseball field, some laughing and others arguing.

While they were walking back to town, Yamamoto came up to him with a blue baseball. "Happy birthday Tsuna!"

* * *

_Even later that day…_

"Dame-Tsuna~ Lambo-san wants to eat icecream!" Lambo whined, one of his eyes closed, the other one looking at his older brother figure in a pleading way.

Tsuna sighed as he looked at the 10-year old. He patted him on the head and asked "OK Lambo, what flavor do you want?"

"Lambo-san wants grape."

Tsuna tried to smile. "Umm, Lambo? I don't think they have grape-flavored icecream."

"NO! Lambo-san wants grape flavor!"

Tsuna sighed again, sometimes, Lambo acted like a 5-year-old. "Alright Lambo, I'll see what I can find."

After several minutes of searching, they finally sat down on a bench in a small town. Lambo had settled for vanilla ice cream with grape syrup and candy decorating its entire being. Tsuna himself was busy licking a chocolate flavored icecream of his own. He stared at the passerbys with little interest as he listened to Lambo's noisy licking. All the others had gone off somewhere else for a bit and he was stuck babysitting their youngest party member for a while. Suddenly, the sounds stopped and Tsuna looked down at Lambo questioningly.

Lambo's face was messy with purple-colored stains and sticky icecream and Tsuna made a move to wipe it off with a napkin. When he was finished, Lambo looked at him shyly with one hand outstretched, holding a half-eaten grape candy.

"Happy birthday, Tsuna-nii."

Tsuna smiled sincerely at Lambo and accepted the candy, placing it in his pocket for later (actually he was probably going to throw it away when Lambo wasn't looking because it had been slobbered on). "Arigatou, Lambo."

* * *

_Even more later in the day…_

When Tsuna's guardians had reappeared, Chrome led Tsuna to a small store in the middle of town. The sign above the shop read Karaoke in large, colorful letters.

'_Karaoke?_' Tsuna thought, slightly miffed. Oh gosh, does that mean he had to sing?!

Chrome lightly pushed her boss through the doors and led him in to their room they had rented earlier. She sat him down on the couch and handed him a microphone. "Happy birthday, Bossu."

The TV in the front of the room flickered on with life, bringing up a screen full of different songs. One-by-one, the rest of his friends walked in to the room, sitting down sans Hibari who stood by the door, arms crossed.

The rest of the events flew by quickly and before you could say "Vongola," there were lyrics up on the screen and Tsuna's mouth was moving, mouthing the lyrics to the song against his will.

The music began with low sounding beats, arranged in a cool, almost dark pattern.

"My feelings

The shining ring

The burning flame, the proof of resolution

To protect you."

The background music played around him, echoing his words with thumping beats.

"No matter how lost my worry is, no matter how wishful my feelings are

It won't change just like that

To keep living, if it's necessary, I'll fight with my dying will

For the past, for the future: never give up."

Tsuna felt his voice rise a pitch and the music supporting him became calming and sweet.

"Under the sky, things I can do now

I'm searching for that smile, wherever it is hiding

My tomorrow, things I must protect

Because the important thing is that you are here."

The smooth melody rose through the air before changing back to the beats.

"This cruel feeling

I will crush it

I will show you the hidden power

I am not alone."

"No matter how deep my hurt is, no matter how distant my feelings are

I must advance, there is only one path

Even when we are searching around the world, we are not alone

No matter what happens: don't be afraid."

The sweet melody resumed once again.

"The feelings piling up, the connected hands

I want to grab that smile, because I'll be by your side immediately

For the distant tomorrow, let's make a promise

Because we have a dream that can't be handed over."

Tsuna's voice went low then rose up high once again, filling the room with his voice. A violin sounded in the background, moving fluidly across the strings.

"Under the sky, things I can do now

I'm searching for that smile, wherever it is hiding

My tomorrow, things I must protect

Because the important thing is that you are here."

Tsuna paused for the effect.

"Because you are here."

The song ended with a long-lasting chord that rang through the air before cutting off. The room was silent.

Cheers erupted from everyone's mouths, even Hibari let himself smile a bit.

"Sugoi Juudaime! You're an amazing singer!" Gokudera gushed, his eyes glittering.

"Yeah Tsuna, you never told us you could sing!" Yamamoto added cheerfully.

"That was great, Bossu." Chrome whispered, faintly blushing.

"Sawada! You sing to the EXTREME!" Ryohei yelled, getting shushed by many.

"Hn. Average." Hibari muttered then turned away.

"You never fail to amuse me, Sawada Tsunayoshi." Mukuro smirked sadistically although it seemed a little off considering the atmosphere they were in.

"Gyahahaha! Lambo-san can sing better than you!" Lambo cried cheekily.

"Aho-shi! Then why don't you sing!" Gokudera grabbed a spare microphone and shoved it in Lambo's face.

"Waaahh! Dame-Tsuna, Baka-dera is being mean!" A crying Lambo ran over to where Tsuna was sitting and threw himself on to his lap (even though he was a bit too old to do that).

"It's OK Lambo." Tsuna petted his head. "I'm sure he didn't mean it." Tsuna looked up at Gokudera pointedly.

"I'm so sorry Juudaime! I didn't mean it." Gokudera threw himself to the floor and began to bang his head multiple times before Tsuna finally got him to stop.

"Hahaha, how about someone else sings now?" Yamamoto spoke up, successfully breaking up the fights going around the room. "I know! How about we all sing Happy Birthday to Tsuna?"

Yamamoto handed everyone a microphone. "Yosh! Here we go~"

* * *

_A little later that day… _

"Kufufufufu. It seems like it's my turn. Follow me." Mukuro led the way to a large cinema in the middle of town.

They entered and Mukuro told Tsuna to close his eyes and cover his ears until he told him it was OK.

After a few minutes, Tsuna reopened his eyes and uncovered his ears and found himself in a theater. Only a few seconds later had the movie began.

Screams and shrieks filled the air. Blood splattered and bodies fell to the ground. Tsuna squeezed his eyes tightly shut and covered his ears much like before. Why did Mukuro choose a horror movie!?

The movie dragged on, every scene was filled with blood and death. Monsters jumped out of shadows, slicing people in half, ripping apart bodies as the humans pitifully tried to defend themselves. At the goriest part of he movie, while Tsuna slowly felt his soul float out of his body, Mukuro, who was sitting beside him leaned over and whispered in his ear.

"Kufufufufu. I do hope you are enjoying the movie. Happy birthday~."

* * *

_Later on, after the blood fest movie…_

"KYOOKUUGEENN!" Ryohei shouted. "SAWADA! I extremely challenge you to a boxing match!"

"E-eto. Onii-san, maybe a little later, I'm not really up for it right now." Tsuna replied, a little queasy feeling from the gory movie.

"That's extremely OK Sawada! We'll do it tomorrow!" Ryohei answered, heavily patting his 'younger brother' on the back. "Let's do some EXTREME training instead!"

Before Tsuna could decline, he was dragged off by the collar. He helplessly looked at his other friends for help. But they all shook their heads in a 'sorry' and walked off.

'Where're they going?' Tsuna thought frantically. 'I don't want to die early!'

The next hour consisted of push-ups, sit-ups, chin-ups, and mile-long runs, all alternated between each other. By the time they had finished, Tsuna was worn out, he was bent over with his hands on his knees but the funny thing was, Ryohei hadn't even broken a sweat. He was standing beside the blond with a large, goofy smile on his face.

Tsuna sighed. Was this a regular for the boxer?

Ryohei walked over to him, patting him surprisingly lightly on his back. "Extremely well done Sawada! You should join me tomorrow morning before our boxing match!"

"Umm. I'm not so sure about that Onii-san." Tsuna laughed nervously.

"Are you sure Sawada? Hmm, oh! Here I almost forgot! I need to give you something." Ryohei dug his hands into his pockets as he searched for something. His face lit up as he pulled something out of his jacket.

"I hope you like it Sawada, I made it just for you!"

Ryohei handed him an orange bracelet with the word 'Extreme' on it.

"Happy birthday!" Ryohei beamed just like the sun.

* * *

_Later on… _

"Juudaime! Let's go to the Library!" Gokudera cried in joy, pulling his beloved boss along behind him.

Still tired from the day's workout, Tsuna inwardly cried. "Wa-wait! Gokudera-kun!"

But Gokudera didn't listen and continued to drag him to the library. They entered the large double-doors and their noses were met with the smell of dust and worn paper.

Gokudera sighed contentedly. "Follow me!"

They worked their way between the shelves to a small room, hidden from most people. They went inside and Gokudera sat Tsuna down in a chair. He himself went in to a back room and brought out a portable chalkboard.

In a flash, Gokudera's white hair was tied up in a messy ponytail and he had slipped on glasses. He cleared his throat.

"Alright Juudaime, I'm going to explain why birthdays are important. Ready?" Gokudera began to write sentences that filled up the board before talking about what he wrote. Then he proceeded to write complex equations, explaining along the way.

After only seconds of listening, Tsuna zoned out, already bored out of his mind not to mention confused. This was going to be a long few hours.

He was jerked out of his musings when Gokudera put the chalk down and stared at Tsuna expectantly.

"Huh? Wha? What did I miss?" Tsuna asked, clueless.

Gokudera gave him a genuine smile that he only let his Juudaime see. "Happy birthday, Juudaime!"

* * *

After leaving the Library, Gokudera led Tsuna somewhere else to meet up with the rest of the guardians. They stopped in front of an elegant looking restaurant. The smell of food wafted from inside, making Tsuna's mouth water.

Inside, his guardians were waiting for him patiently (even Hibari). The waiter led them to a table in the middle of the restaurant and placed thick menus in front of them.

They ordered their food and waited to be served. By the time the food came, Lambo was whining non-stop and Gokudera was yelling at him to be quiet while Yamamoto was saying a lot of "maa maas." Chrome was sitting silently next to Mukuro, sipping her drink, and Mukuro was laughing creepily. Ryohei was shouting at the top of his lungs and Hibari had long since disappeared. Tsuna felt himself shrink into himself at all the stares they were getting.

Surprisingly, they ate calmly, only getting a little food flicked around the table here and there. Otherwise, it was relatively peaceful. When dessert came, it was a large cake with orange frosting with a "Happy Birthday Oozora!" on it in white. 14 orange-and-white candles decorated the cake, alit with flickering flames.

They all sang happy birthday to him again and Tsuna couldn't help but feel happy. He gave his friends a blinding smile, as wide as the sky. Maybe celebrating his birthday wasn't too bad after all.

* * *

**Cani di Morte- Dogs of death**

**Sangue Cani- Blood hounds**

**Lupo Vespe- Wolf Wasps**

**Uso (I think that's how you spell it)- No way (I think)**

**Aho-shi (unless it's Ahoshi)- stupid cow, Gokudera's nickname for Lambo**

**Aho-dera (unles it's Ahodera)- Stupid-dera, Lambo's nickname for Gokudera**

**The song Tsuna sang was his character song, Mamorubeki Mono.**

**Yeah… I know, the characters were a little OOC there weren't they. Anyways if you didn't really get this omake, it was basically about Tsuna and his guardians celebrating his 14th birthday. Hibari took them to a monster-killing game. Yamamoto took Tsuna and the gang to play baseball. Lambo ate icecream with Tsuna and then gave him a grape-flavored candy. Chrome took them out to Karaoke. Mukuro brought them to a theater and watched a horror film. Ryohei took Tsuna out for a exercise then gave him an orange bracelet as a present. Gokudera took him to the Library and taught him why it was important to celebrate your birthday. And last, all of Tsuna's guardians used their money to take Tsuna to a fancy restaurant to celebrate all together. In a few parts where the guardians left Tsuna alone was when they were planning the dinner.**

**Well, I hope you liked this Birthday Tsuna! See ya!**


	9. Chapter 7: A Rainy Forecast

**Chapter 7: A Rainy Forecast**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

**A/N: For those of you who didn't get the previous chapter, it was just a birthday omake for Tsuna that had nothing to do with the real plotline. It took place after Tsuna meets all his guardians and was just a side-story. This chapter will go back to the original plot. Forgive me if I confused you!**

* * *

After Tsuna had logged off, he went straight to bed. He let Gokudera sleep over in the guest room as he was still in his house when he woke back up in the real world.

In the morning, waking up to the sounds of ear-splitting knocking on his door, Tsuna sat up groggily. He rubbed his eyes and swung his legs out and off the bed. Then, he walked slowly over to the door and opened it without warning, earning him a hit to the face.

"Gah!" Tsuna fell backwards on to the floor, a nice, big red bump forming on his forehead.

"Ahh, Juudaime! I'm so sorry, please forgive me, I didn't mean to hit you!" Gokudera slammed against the floor in a bowing position, repeatedly banging his head several times.

Rubbing his forehead, Tsuna sat up. "Hiiee! It's fine Gokudera-kun. You don't have to hurt yourself!"

Gokudera looked up and looked like he wanted to say something then thought better of it and said something entirely different. "You're so kind, Juudaime!"

Tsuna heaved a big sigh. If Gokudera acted so much like a puppy, then he should teach him a few tricks. Of course, teaching him how to stop banging his head against everything when he 'disgraced his Juudaime' would have to come first. But no worries, the fun stuff could come next.

After washing up, the brunet and the bomber went downstairs to grab some breakfast. Tsuna expertly beat some eggs and made two omelets. One for Gokudera and the other for himself. They ate in silence and then when they were finished, Gokudera helped Tsuna clean up. Once done, they set off for school (which Tsuna was dreading).

As the school gates neared, Tsuna felt a bad feeling slowly grow stronger and stronger in his stomach. It was telling him to turn around and run for his life. And he seriously considered doing it once he saw the threat. Ah—there was Hibari.

The school prefect was waiting patiently beside the black gates. His arms were crossed and his eyes closed. He seemed to be waiting for something—or someone. And that someone was probably him.

Yes, Tsuna.

Hibari's eyes snapped open as soon as Tsuna neared. Hibari smirked. "Fight me, Herbivore."

Tsuna jumped in fright. "Hiiiee! Hi-hibari-san, e-eto, maybe some other time. I think the bell is going to ring."

And just as he said that, the bell rang shrilly through the ear.

Hibari let out a small "Hmph" then turned to walk away. "Another time then, Herbivore."

"Uh, yeah…" Tsuna wiped the sweat off his brow and looked unsurely at Gokudera who was scowling fiercely at the retreating prefect. He tugged on his arm. "Gokudera-kun, we should get to class now, we're late."

Gokudera slouched forward. "Tch. Stupid prefect, challenging Juudaime like that. Next time I see him I'll blast him to pieces." Reluctantly, he followed Tsuna in to the school building, still muttering about blasted prefects and how more people should respect his Juudaime.

The classroom was cheerful and talkative but once Tsuna and Gokudera slid the door open, it fell silent. The chatter died down and kids stared at Tsuna like he was an alien.

Finally someone spoke up.

"So, was that really you, Sawada?"

"Yeah, shouldn't you be more Dame?"

"I bet Hibari just let you win, he just didn't feel like battling that day."

Tsuna felt a red-hot blush creep up his face as he tried to escape the comments by hiding behind Gokudera.

Gokudera thrust an arm out to one side as if to protect his friend from all the bullies and their stares. His other arm was hovering in front of his body, his hand balled in a tight fist. "Teme! How dare you insult Juudaime. He beat that prefect fair and square and you just don't want to admit it!" He shot back, giving all the students who chose to speak badly about Tsuna a death glare.

The three kids shrunk back in their seats and didn't speak another word yet they still shot hating glances at the poor brunet.

The teacher clapped a few times "alright, settle down now class, we have some important lessons today so I expect your full attention…"

During lunch, Tsuna and Gokudera went up to the roof—mostly to escape the never-ending flood of Dame-Tsuna tormentors and also because it was quiet. It was relaxing and Tsuna felt peaceful so close to the sky. It was endless, the pure blue enveloping the world—as if holding it firmly in place.

Tsuna sighed, if only the world was always like this. Warm, peaceful, welcoming. But, it wasn't. His bullies were living proof. Why couldn't they accept him for who he is and not for what he does wrong? He can do plenty right. But they choose to look at the Dame-Tsuna and not the regular, plain-old Tsuna.

Right now, Tsuna felt his emotions twist like the wind in the sky. Always changing and turning, floating anywhere they choose, rarely every coming back to the same spot.

Suddenly, the silence was interrupted when the door to the roof slammed open.

"Ahahaha, oops, did I startle you?" A cheerful sounding voice piped up from the doorframe. A tall boy with black hair and caramel-brown eyes stood on the roof, his face set in a happy smile.

"Teme! You could have hurt Juudaime, I'll blast you to pieces!" Gokudera jumped up from his sitting position and pulled out several sticks of dynamite, already lit.

"Hiiee! Gokudera, don't!" Tsuna raced over to Gokudera in order to prevent him from throwing them. This time, instead of accidentally dropping them, Tsuna took them one by one and threw them out in to the air where the exploded in big clouds.

"Phew." Tsuna sighed, relieved.

"I'm sorry Juudaime! I didn't mean to worry you!" Gokudera fell to the ground and began banging his head on the rooftop.

"Ah, no, wait! Gokudera, it's fine, you don't have to do that. You're going to hurt yourself!" (He should really start to train Doggy-Dera).

Gokudera looked up with teary eyes, a big red bump beginning to form on his forehead. "Really Juudaime?"

"Un!" Tsuna nodded and gave Gokudera a hand to help pull him back to his feet. They stopped midway, though, when more laughter rang out through the air.

"Hahaha, are you two actors? That was a pretty good scene. Can I help?" Yamamoto stood up straight and brought his hand down in a slicing motion. "Cut!"

"Um, we're not actors, Yamamoto-san."

"Oh really? Too bad. By the way, those were some cool fireworks you had there, can I see them?"

Tsuna facepalmed. Fireworks? Those were real bombs! How could this person believe they were fireworks!? "E-eto, Yamamoto-san, I hate to break it to you but I think those are real—"

"What are you talking about Tsuna, of course they're fireworks. Here, let me see one, I'll show you." Yamamoto started to reach for a "firework" but Tsuna intervened and snatched it away.

"Umm, maybe later Yamamoto-san, anyway, why are you up here?"

Yamamoto hummed. "Hm? Me? Oh well I just thought some fresh air would be nice for a change. Y'know, being holed up in a classroom isn't good for your health."

"A-ah. That's nice." Tsuna tried to sound interested in the conversation but failed.

"So, I hear you defeated Hibari?"

"Eeh? No, not really, we ended in a draw, no one won."

"Really? Huh, that's funny cuz' everyone says that Hibari won. But, I watched your duel. It looked like you won to me." Yamamoto smiled cheerily at him, his arms behind his head in a carefree way.

"Oh."

"By the way, is it OK if I ask for some advice? Y'know seeing how you defeating Hibari, I could use some tips myself."

"Ano, I guess that's fine with me." Tsuna glanced at Gokudera who was still growling at Yamamoto. He motioned to him to calm down and Gokudera cooled down right away and resumed eating his lunch.

"Do you think you could meet me in world 18 after school today? In Città di Inizi, there should be a large fountain in the middle of town. I'll be there if you want." Yamamoto asked a grin plastered to his face like glue.

"Sure?"

"Haha, great! See ya there!" Yamamoto turned around and went down the stairs leading back to the classrooms, the door swinging shut behind him.

Tsuna let the words sink in. Suddenly, his arms shot up and his pulled on his hair, making it look even messier than it already was. Ugh. What did he just get himself into?

* * *

**Yo minna, sorry for the short chapter but I didn't have enough time to type so I cut it a little short. I'll try to make up for it in the next chapter. **

**Did you all like Yamamoto's entrance? I hope it was OK. I tried to have a few things from canon blend in with some of my ideas. I promise it'll get more interesting in the next chapter of so. I know this chapter didn't have a lot going on but there'll be more action soon.**

**Special thanks to Pleased and Syrlai for your sweet reviews.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed, faved, and followed!**

**Ciao Ciao~**

**P.S: Did you see the latest KHR chapter? It was hilarious! (and heartwarming). **


	10. Chapter 8: Soothing the Rain

Chapter 8: Soothing the Rain

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

* * *

_World 18- Acquazzone_

_(Downpour)_

Tsuna had only spent a brief time in World 18. But, now that he was in there once again, he wished he had spent a little more time exploring.

World 18's Città di Inizi was beautiful. It was like an old-fashioned Japan. Dojos lined the streets, vendors walked around in yukatas with white ropes tied around their heads, calling out to passer-byes to buy something from their shop. Fresh Takoyaki lined stands, waiting to be eaten; sushi was being freshly made in every other stall. Paintings hung from corners of shops. They were brush paintings of yokai, women in kimonos, and different varieties of flowers. Little trinkets lay in rows, shining and cuddly, lying there, waiting to be picked up by someone. A sweet smell filled the air giving the town an even livelier feel and Tsuna couldn't help but want to stay a little longer. But, he had to meet up with Yamamoto for some training and it wasn't nice to keep someone waiting.

But of course, there were so many things to see and so many players, Tsuna was caught in the fray and swept along with the crowd, getting separated from Gokudera.

"Gah! Juudaime, where'd you go?" Tsuna heard Gokudera call out frantically.

"Eh? Gokudera-kun, I'm right here! Gokudera-kun?"

"Juudaime?" There was a short pause. "Teme! Move already, you're in my way!" Gokudera soon let out a string of curse words to the poor player, caught in his wrath.

Keeping an ear trained on the curses, Tsuna followed Gokudera's voice soon leading him to the snappy bomber.

"Gokudera-kun! Leave him alone."

Startled, the white-headed teen snapped around. "Juudaime! There you are, I thought I lost you!" He rushed over to the blond, totally forgetting about the poor player he had been yelling at.

Tsuna, who had pushed his way through the endless crowd, was completely out of breath and Gokudera tried to help him calm down.

"Aah, I'm OK now Gokudera-kun, thank you."

"No problem Juudaime, anything to help you!"

Tsuna looked up at his friend's smiling face. "We should be heading to the center of town now. Yamamoto-san is probably waiting."

"Tch. Who care about that happy-go-lucky fool. I say we just forget about him and look around town more."

"Gokudera-kun!"

"Tch. Fine." A scowling Gokudera (not to Tsuna of course but to a certain person they were about to meet) followed the blond through the crowd, heading for a fountain.

Finally, they heard the signs of falling water over the roar of the crowd and headed towards it. Before they knew it, there had stopped in front of a grand fountain. Water flowed from the top in an elegant arc. It flowed over 5 layers that slowly go bigger as they reached the round pool before coming to a rest at the bottom where the water twinkled happily.

On the other side of the fountain, another crowd of people were gathered around the edge. The players shrieked and made "Kyaas" over someone who was sitting on the lip of the fountain. The excited mob of people pushed and shoved, yelling for something. The person had seemingly dark hair. Was it blue? He was definately a male. He had bronze eyes that deeply contrasted his hair color. And a sword was slung across his back but it looked wooden for some reason, not metal.

As Tsuna and Gokudera go closer, they realized the people were mostly made up of girls but a couple of males were in the group. They female players shoved paper and colorful markers at the mystery person while the male players asked frantically if the person could join their guild or party. But, the person just answered back with "Hahaha, I'm sorry, I can't." Or "Maybe later."

Shocked, Tsuna recognized the voice. It was Yamamoto!

Suddenly, a loud cry sounded from the mob of players. "Sword Emperor! Join my party! It's the Kendo Team."

* * *

_Yamamoto_

He felt his heart break in half. Each word pierced through him like a needle. Inside, it was almost like blood was trickling down his entire being, slowly inching downwards. _'Why does it hurt so much?' _He thought sadly, staring at all his fans. He tried to keep on a happy front but he couldn't help but feel his mouth start to curve down.

_'Do they just want me for my skill? If they do, I can't join them. Besides, there are many other players out there better than me.' _His heart sank to his stomach as he stared in to the sea of people, all pushing and shoving to ask him something or get better looks.

_'Heh, there's Mochida-sempai. He's probably here for the same reason.'_ Yamamoto locked his gaze on to the Kendo captain.

"Sword Emperor! Join my party! It's the Kendo Team." Yamamoto saw Mochida call out to him and inwardly, Yamamoto frowned. _'I knew it, he's just like the rest.' _

Then, his gaze slid to some different movement. Someone was pushing their way through the crowd. The he noticed the startling blond, fluffy hair that could only belong to one player. "Dame-Tsuna?" He felt himself mutter quietly. Then he noticed his little slip-up, good thing no one heard. _'Tsuna.'_ He corrected himself, Tsuna wasn't like the rest, that's why he went to him for advice earlier that day. Or at least, he hoped Tsuna wasn't like _them. _

A white-haired fellow was following the blond. Was that Gokudera? Gee, he sure looked happy with Tsuna, they looked close, like real friends. Of course, how should he know that when he didn't have any true friends? Yamamoto thought sourly, looking away. _'But maybe... maybe I can become true friends with Tsuna and Gokudera. I can give them a chance. Unlike these other players who just want me for my fame.' _

Yamamoto returned his gaze back to the crowd, feeling himself automatically respond to the questions asked. At least he could spend a little time with Tsuna today. Get away from the crowd and relax.

"Sorry, I'm not interested right now." Yamamoto answered Mochida with a fake smile, pushing his lips back up and closing his eyes tightly, hoping to look happy and apolegitic.

"I can offer the position as Vice-commander if you want, you can be second only to me!" Mochida was getting desperate now, trying the typical tactic of winning someone over.

"Gomen, but I'm not interested, I think I like being a solo." Yamamoto recited a phrase that he said day after day, hoping that it never failed him.

"Hmph. Well contact me if you ever change your mind.

"Ahaha, sure thing!" Yamamoto could hear his voice crack and hoped that no one else heard.

_'At least try to put up a cheery front for Tsuna, Takeshi! I don't want to make him worry.' _Yamamoto prepared himself for the incoming blond and his faithful friend. But, something stopped the blond in this tracks. Mochida.

_'Maybe I should wait and see how this plays out, see how he truly feels.'_

* * *

'_Sword Emperor? Was that Yamamoto-san's user name?' _Tsuna thought. '_He seems to be acting differently than normal. I hope he's OK.' _Slowly, he pushed his way through the mass of people only to come face-to-face with the person who had shouted out so loudly. And that person was someone who he feared to meet.

Mochida.

His hair was a light brown, unlike his normal black hair color. His eyes were a cold grey, narrowed in scorn.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Dame-Tsuna." Mochida sneered down at the blond, a fierce look marring his face.

"Hiie!" Tsuna squeaked. Mochida was one of his top bullies despite being in a grade higher than him. And he was also someone not to be messed with.

"What're you doing here? Huh? Trying to recruit the famous Sword Emperor in to your lousy party? Like he*l he'd want to team up with you!" Mochida spat in Tsuna's face making the blond cringe back.

"Teme! What's it to you?" Gokudera came up from behind Tsuna with dynamite lit and in his hands.

There was a sudden flash and a few screams. People fell away and in Mochida's hand was a sword. The tops of the dynamite fell to the ground, no longer a threat.

"Why if it isn't the Puppy Dog. Always following his Dame-master around." Mochida sneered.

"Tch. I'll blast you to pieces for insulting Juudaime like that!" Gokudera whipped out more of his explosives from inside his jacket.

But Mochida stood there, his sword at hand, taunting the bomber to attack. And Gokudera took the bait, throwing the bombs out with perfect aim. Mochida, who had been expecting this form of attack, neatly sliced the dynamite in half with his sword.

"Hmph. Try this, Double Bombs!"

"Stop." An orange coat fluttered in the breeze, a calm voice rang out, abruptly halting any movement. Blond hair swayed and light-orange flames flared out, letting the bombs fall to the ground, harmlessly and a sword clatter loudly to the floor.

"Ju-juudaime…" Gokudera muttered. "I'm so sorry!" He slammed face-first in to the ground, bowing profusely.

Scornful laughter rang out. "Ahahaha! Look at him, he's so pathetic!" Mochida laughed, pointing at the still bowing Gokudera. But Gokudera didn't hear him and was still rapidly apologizing to his Juudaime.

"Urusai." A cold aura began to radiate from the blond, immediately silencing Mochida. Tsuna looked up with a scorching glare. "I don't mind if you insult me. I'm used to that now thanks to you. But, if you ever dare insult my friends, I won't give a second thought about killing you."

Freaked out by the sudden change of demeanor, Mochida backed away. "H-hai." He said weakly.

Getting up, Gokudera raced over to Tsuna, gushing. "Just what you expect from Juudaime! You showed him whose boss!"

Tsuna felt the steam drain out of him. He blanched, suddenly realizing the full extent of what he'd done. "Hiiieee!"

"Juudaime?" Gokudera asked, worried.

"I-I'm fine, Gokudera-kun. Thank you."

Regaining his composure, Mochida stood up straight and loomed over the pair, scowling. "Hmph. Once a loser, always a loser. How pathetic."

"Teme! Leave Juudaime alone!" Gokudera growled angrily, slipping his dynamite in between his fingers again.

"Hiiee! Gokudera-kun, leave it be, I think this is enough."

"Tch. If you say so Juudaime." Gokudera slid his dynamite back in to his red jacket and stuffed his hands in to his pockets, immediately ignoring the fuming swordsman who had been forgotten in the corner.

* * *

_ Yamamoto_

Yamamoto could feel his spirts lift and soar to amazing heights. Did Tsuna really feel like that about his friends? He would care more about friends than himself? Would Tsuna accept him then, as a friend, and not a tool?

* * *

"Why you—!" Before Mochida could finish, he was cut off by cheery laughter.

"Haha! Are you sure you guys aren't actors? That was awesome!" Yamamoto, who had been sitting on the fountain during the fight suddenly interrupted. Behind him, many fangirls were pushing each other, trying to get a better look at the famous player.

Tsuna sweat dropped. _'That's wrong!' _"E-eto. Yamamoto-san I told you already, we aren't actors."

"Haha, what are you talking about Tsuna? You just need a camera to film now, where's the cameraman? I can fill in for him if you want."

"Urusai. You're bothering Juudaime." Gokudera came up to Yamamoto, a deep frown on his face.

"Yo Gokudera!" Yamamoto laughed, completely ignoring the previous comment made by the bomber.

"Tch." Gokudera clicked his tongue in disapproval.

"So, Tsuna, shall we get going now? I can't wait to get started."

"Umm, sure?"

"Yosh! Let's go!" Yamamoto grabbed Tsuna's hand and dashed off. Gokudera trailed a little reluctantly.

"Wait! Where are you going with Dame-Tsuna? Why go with him?" Mochida, left alone with the fanclub, yelled after them helplessly. "Oi!"

Panting, the three of them came to a halt. They stopped in a small clearing, just the right size for some training.

"Haah, haah." Tsuna gasped for breath, not quite used to running at top speed for a long time. Of course, he had before but he hadn't in a while. Refilling his lungs with air, Tsuna began to speak albeit a little shakily.

"S-so, Y-yamamoto-san… What was that crowd all about?"

"Oh that? Haha, just some players who wanted to recruit me. That's all."

"Why? Are you famous?" Tsuna asked curiously.

"Hmm? I don't know."

Tsuna sweat dropped_. 'How can he not know!?' _

"S-so, what would you like me to help you with?" Tsuna started, directing the conversation away from what was previously said.

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot! Haha!" Yamamoto laughed it off like it was nothing. "I saw that you work with the sword, can you help me with swordsmanship?"

"A-ah, sure." Tsuna took out one of his swords from its sheathe. "Where do you want to start?"

"Can we have a mock battle first? Maybe so you can get a grasp on my skills." Yamamoto suggested.

"Oh. Good idea. Do you mind being the referee, Gokudera-kun?" Tsuna looked questioningly at his white-haired friend.

"Not at all Juudaime! Anything for you." Gokudera smiled at Tsuna then swung his head around to face Yamamoto. "But if you dare hurt Juudaime, I'll blast you to pieces!"

"Hahaha, no problem." Yamamoto waved his hand cheerily but then his eyes turned serious. He pulled a bamboo sword out from where it was resting on his back and slid in to a ready stance.

"Tch. Stupid Sword-freak. Begin!"

Tsuna took the first move, running in with his sword above his head, leaving his chest area open on purpose.

Yamamoto's eyes were narrowed in concentration, waiting for the perfect time to strike. _'There!' _Yamamoto let his sword slice through the air where it suddenly changed in to a katana, aiming for the blond's chest.

But as soon as he thought he had cut the blond, he disappeared in a flash of orange. _'What?'_ Behind him, he felt a sharp pain suddenly hit him hard. He swiveled around only to be greeted by empty space. _'Where did he go?' _

Again, he felt pain and whipped around but again there was nothing. _'He's so fast! I need to calm down and concentrate or else I'll never get him.' _Yamamoto closed his eyes and felt himself calm down. He sensed the movements of the evasive blond and waited for the perfect moment.

'_Now!' _

Yamamoto's eyes flashed open. He took his sword and let it guide his strike. He felt energy pass through his arms and in to the sword. The katana erupted with beautiful light-blue flames and hit its target.

"Gah!" Tsuna fell to the ground, winded. Yamamoto made sure he had struck with the blunt side of his sword so he wouldn't slice the blond in half.

"Ahh, good job Yamamoto-san, you beat me." Tsuna laughed shakily, scratching his head.

"Nope, it's all thanks to you, Tsuna." Yamamoto returned, smiling. His sword turned back in to bamboo and he placed his on his back once again.

"Tch. Sword-freak, what did I tell you about hurting Juudaime? I'll blast you to bits!" Gokudera threw his dynamites at the unsuspecting teen.

"Wait—no! Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna cried, racing to cut off the fuses with his sword. But it was too late—they exploded right on top of Yamamoto.

"Aaah! Yamamoto-san!" Tsuna rushed over to the giant dust cloud to see if he was OK. But he stopped when there was cheery laughter.

"Ahahahaha! That was cool. Those fireworks really work well!"

"Bast**d! They aren't fireworks. They are real bombs!" Gokudera snapped angrily at the slightly toasted swordsman.

Tsuna sweat dropped yet again. What was his life turning into? "Are you OK Yamamoto-san?"

"Oh yeah. I'm perfectly fine!" Yamamoto stood up, his hair was singed and he had minor burn marks all over his skin.

'_Yeah right!' _Tsuna thought_, 'how can he be alright after getting blasted with Gokudera's dynamite?' _

"Anyway, thanks Tsuna, you helped me out with the battle. Should we get started on the real training now?"

"Umm, sure, I don't mind, are you up for it Yamamoto-san?"

"Yep! And Tsuna, you don't have to add to –san to my name, you can call me Takeshi or Yamamoto. Yamamoto-san is too formal." Yamamoto said.

"U-uh Yamamoto then." Tsuna said quietly.

Yamamoto smiled, patting the blond heartily on his back. "Yosh! Let's get started! Oh! And I almost forgot, where'd Hibari go? Didn't he join your party?

"Hibari-san? Umm he's probably off somewhere. He doesn't like crowding very much."

"Oh, I see." Yamamoto replied, deep in thought. "Hey! Do you mind if I join your party? It'll be fun!"

"Huh? But what about all those other players who want your to join their guilds and parties?"

"Ahh it's fine, they won't mind."

'_Of course they will! They were practically killing each other back in town to get a look at him.' _Tsuna though madly, not believing a single word the swordsman said. "Oh. Why do they call you the Sword Emperor, is that your user name?"

"Hmm? No, the name's Ame, the Sword Emperor is just a title I took up for fun and it looks like it caught on."

"Oh, I see." Tsuna flicked his wrist, bringing up a screen. He pressed a few buttons and then stared expectantly at Yamamoto.

_Oozora invites you to join his party._

_Accept or Decline._

Yamamoto pressed the Accept whilst smiling all the way. "Thanks Tsuna, I hope we can become friends." And he really meant it, wishing with all his heart and soul that it would happen.

"Tch. Stupid Sword-freak, no one becomes friends with Juudaime unless he approves, you can't just order him to be your friend." Gokudera growled angrily.

"Haha, oh, sorry Tsuna. I don't mean to force you." Yamamoto felt his heart plummet slowly, would he be OK with it?

"It's OK Yamamoto, I don't mind at all. I hope we can be friends too." Tsuna tried to laugh. "I don't have much anyway." Then, Tsuna let a wide grin stretch across his face, lighting up his features. His golden eyes shone firmly with resolve yet were welcoming and innocent. "Welcome to the Family."

* * *

**Acquazzone: Downpour the 18****th**** world.**

**Character profiles: **

******Yamamoto Takeshi: A cheery teenager with black hair and brown eyes. In the virtual world, he has dark-blue hair and bronze colored eyes. He is known as the Sword Emperor and is of the Pioggia class. He carries a bamboo sword across his back. He wears a blue, long-sleeved cape that reaches down to his ankles. He likes to keep the collar up. He has long black pants and his cape covers his upper half. He wears dark-blue mid-length boots. In the real world, he is known as the school baseball star.**

**Just to let you know, back when they were fighting with Mochida, when Tsuna said; "I don't mind if you insult me. I'm used to that now thanks to you. But, if you ever dare insult my friends, I won't give a second thought about killing you," he didn't really mean that he would kill him. It was just a threat and he would probably attack him but not kill.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I haven't edited it yet so tell me if there are any mistakes. Thanks to those who reviewed, faved, or followed/alerted.**

**Ciao!**

**Funfact: Bianchi's voice actress also voices Uri and Hibird.**


	11. Chapter 9: Candy Makes the Heart Happy

Chapter 9: Candy Makes the Heart Happy

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

* * *

_World 20- Far Sparire_

_(Vanish)_

It was about a week before the competition. Tsuna and Gokudera went to the registration building of the 20th world so Hibari and Yamamoto were both officially in the Vongola X. Now that they had 4 players, they could enter the competition without a problem. Of course, with a full party of at least 7, they stood a much better chance against the other parties. And Tsuna realized that. And that's PARTLY why they were currently at a candy shop in the middle of town with a drooling 10-year-old boy wearing a cow-print dress shirt with horns sticking out of his head.

OK, let me back up. They were walking in town all together (any surprise there?) when suddenly they came across a young boy—younger than most players—getting picked on by much older people.

"Waaaah! Get away from Lambo-san, leave me alone!" The young boy cried, his eyes closed with forming tears.

"Heh, not until you say sorry you little brat!" One player scowled, roughly jerking the little boy by his shirt collar.

Many passer-byes looked on with pity but made no move to help.

The boy dubbed as Lambo started to break down. "To…ler…ate…" He sniffed, seemingly to himself. One of the bullies laughed at the boy's pitiful attempts and began to kick him mercilessly with a pointed boot.

Tsuna, who had been frozen in shock for a few seconds due to the cruel treatment the boy Lambo was getting, suddenly snapped out of it and raced over to help. But, Hibari was few steps ahead of him.

"Herbivore. I will bite you to death for ganging up on a small herbivore." Hibari whipped out his trusty tonfas then proceed to beat them up.

"Hiiee! Hibari-san, don't kill them!" Tsuna tried in vain to stop the bloodthirsty prefect from beating them to bloody pulp.

"Gupyaa! Don't come to Lambo-san! Lambo-san didn't do anything wrong!" The little boy scrambled away, his sapphire-blue eyes glinting with fear.

Finally knowing that it was hopeless to stop Hibari from biting them to death, Tsuna cautiously approached the boy named Lambo.

"No! Go away!" Lambo backed away even more, fearing that the new person would hurt him too.

For a second, Tsuna felt his heart melt. The poor kid, he must have gone through a lot. "It's OK Lambo-san, may I call you that?"

Lambo nodded his head furiously.

"I won't hurt you." Tsuna forced out the most soothing tone he could muster. And it must have worked because the young boy stopped trying to escape.

"Y-you won't hurt Lambo-san like those big meanies did?" Lambo asked wearily.

Tsuna laughed lightly, "Of course not, I would never do such a thing. Say, would you like me to buy you some candy?"

Lambo's blue eyes widened, "Really? You'll buy Lambo-san candy?"

"Un!" Tsuna nodded his head.

Lambo, now refreshed and happy, raced over to Tsuna and started jumping around in excitement. "I want grape flavored! Grape candies are Lambo-san's favorite!"

Tsuna smiled and patted Lambo's curly, light-blue hair comfortingly. "Hai, hai, grape candies it is."

And so that concludes how they met the rambunctious little boy, Lambo.

"Oooh! Can Lambo-san get this one? And this one too!" Lambo greedily pointed to several different purple-colored candies all at once then within seconds, he moved on to the next batch.

"Ahoshi! Juudaime doesn't have a bottomless wallet! Don't make Juudaime waste all his money on you!" Gokudera spat at the cow-child, scaring him.

"Waaahh~ Tsuna-nii! (Lambo had taken to that name once he had learned it) Ahodera is being mean!" Lambo ran up to the blond and hid behind him. Then he turned around and stuck out his tongue at the white-haired teen.

Tsuna, noticing this action, lightly scolded the boy. "Lambo! (Lambo had demanded that he drop the –san) don't do that."

"B-but Ahodera was being mean!" Lambo complained.

"That doesn't matter, you should never do that, it's rude."

"Fine." Lambo crossed his arms and "Humphed."

Tsuna sighed at his antics. "Alright Lambo, is there anything else you want?"

Lambo's face brightened as he began to pick out candies once more.

"Haha! Lambo sure is funny huh, Gokudera?" Yamamoto spoke up from his spot by the window.

"Urusai Sword-freak. I don't want to hear from you."

"Maa maa Gokudera, let's play nice now."

"Teme—!"

"OK! We're done, let's go." Tsuna, with a large bag in his arms, rushed past them, effectively cutting off their conversation (as Yamamoto would call it, with Gokudera, it would be a little different). Lambo, his eyes shining in hunger, followed the blond closely.

They stopped in the park in the outskirts of town. No one was there but the trees seemed alive, disappearing and then reappearing in wherever they chose to end up. It was kind of creepy, all of a sudden, a tree or bush would suddenly appear in front of you without warning, effectively tripping you or adding a new bruise to your forehead.

They proceeded cautiously to the closest bench then sat down, hoping a tree wouldn't appear the middle of the bench. Hibari was already long-gone, probably dozing off already. So, the rest of them were left to watch the greedy Lambo gobble all the candy up, stuffing them into his mouth without giving a second thought about how unhealthy it was to eat so much sugar.

"L-Lambo… don't you think that's enough?" Tsuna asked carefully.

But it seemed like Lambo didn't hear him and continued to eat the candy until there were only a few left. He looked at them in longing for several minutes and Tsuna started to think that all that sugar was beginning to clog up the little cow-boy's brain.

Suddenly, he moved. He picked up one of the candies and handed it to Tsuna albeit a little reluctantly. "T-thank you Tsuna-nii."

Tsuna sighed and accepted the token of gratitude. "You're welcome Lambo. But try not to eat so much at once next time."

Lambo nodded his head vigorously, his curly hair bouncing slightly.

Tsuna patted his head then stood up. "OK, let's go somewhere else now, what do you want to do?"

"Lambo-san wants to beat up some monsters!"

Tsuna sweat dropped, such a drastic change in attitude! From eating candy to slaying monsters, what was up with this kid?

"A-alright Lambo, we can do that. Do you want to go to Foresta Scomparendo? I hear that it has some really cool beasts."

"Haha, yeah! I've been there once. The monsters are all like 'Rragh and Rooaar and Blleerahguh, and Whooo!'" Yamamoto chose to make an appearance in the conversation.

Tsuna sweat dropped yet again. "Umm Yamamoto, that's very… descriptive!"

"Haha, I know right? They were really cool, we should go now!"

"Hey, Sword-freak, don't go deciding things on your own, let Juudaime decide!" Gokudera butted in, reprimanding Yamamoto.

"Oops, sorry Tsuna. I don't mean to push you."

"Ah, it's OK Yamamoto, let's go."

Lambo stared at them blankly, wondering what had been going on. Then, he brightened, and tried to climb on to Tsuna's back. "Carry the Great Lambo-san! Everyone else may bow down or die!"

Tsuna hated to admit it but what a brat.

* * *

Saying that Foresta Scomparendo was creepy was an understatement. Gooey looking vines hung limply from dead, gnarled branches, a murky river slowly ran between the lifeless trees. Ominous cries echoed through the dreary atmosphere. And to top it all off, shapes flitted through the shadows, peeking past overhanging branches and glowing eerily before flickering off.

'_Hiiee! Why did I choose to come here?! This place creeps me out.'_ Tsuna asked himself, he was scared witless!

"Haha, how fun! Look at those Fantasmi. Whooosh! Whooo!" Yamamoto tried to mimic the sounds that the ghosts were making while weaving between the trees.

"Umm, Yamamoto, I don't think that's how they sound." Tsuna started, shifting on his feet nervously.

"What are you talking about? Of course they sound like this, can't you hear them? Whooo! Whoooosh!"

"Sword-freak, you're annoying Juudaime!" Gokudera yelled furiously at the blue-haired teen, blowing his cap.

"Maa maa Gokudera." Yamamoto held up his hands in surrender.

Tsuna tried to ignore their one-sided argument and instead turning his attention to Lambo who he noticed was ready to pee in his pants.

Lambo was shaking badly, his legs were bent crookedly and he was chewing on a cow tail that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. His sapphire-blue eyes shone with fright. "D-d-d-does L-l-Lambo-san s-still have t-t-to b-beat up m-mon-monsters?" At this point he was quaking with all his might, not even able to say a complete sentence without messing up.

Tsuna whole-heartedly agreed with the little boy and was just about to respond when he was suddenly jerked from where he stood. He looked back, wondering who it was.

"Hiiee! Hibari-san!"

Hibari, who must have followed them was glaring down at the blond.

"Herbivore." He acknowledged, ignoring the uncomfortable position the blond was in.

"C-can I help you?" Tsuna's lip curved up on one side and he started sweating bullets, hoping to get out of this predicament.

"Hn."

"E-eto, may I ask what that's supposed to mean?" Tsuna trailed off slightly when he saw the look on the prefect's face. "Hiiiee!"

"How dare you disturb my sleep. For that, I must bite you to death!"

"But I didn't do anything! I swear, I really didn't! NOOOOO!" Tsuna was dragged off to the dark forest accompanied by the demon prefect, Hibari. He could practically see his life floating away.

Lambo stood there along with Gokudera and Yamamoto. "What just happened?" Lambo asked curiously.

"Urusai Ahoshi. We need to rescue Juudaime!" Gokudera rushed off, disappearing within the forest's squirming mass of life without a second thought.

"Haha yeah, I agree with Gokudera. Let's go!" Yamamoto grabbed Lambo's wrist and headed off to where Tsuna had been last seen.

"Wait! Lambo-san doesn't want to go in that creepy forest!" Lambo started to struggle and work his way out of Yamamoto's grip. But Yamamoto's hand was like a handcuff, not letting Lambo escape.

"What are you talking about Lambo? Don't you want to save Tsuna?"

"O-of course but I refuse to go in to that forest!" Lambo's eyes were impossibly big now, the whites showing more than the actual pupil.

"Aww, c'mon, let's go!"

Finally realizing that escape was futile when it came to Yamamoto, Lambo let himself get pulled along. But that was only after he had fainted.

* * *

**Far Sparire- Vanish: the 20****th**** world**

**Foresta Scomparendo- Disappearing Forest**

**Fantasmi- Ghost**

**Character Profiles: **

**Lambo Bovino: A snotty-nosed brat who loves candy and sweets. He dresses like a cow in both worlds and has taken a liking to wearing horns. In the game, he has light-blue hair and matching eyes. In the real world, he has curly-black hair and green eyes. Under one eye, he has a small # mark. His weapons of choice are his horns for attacking but he uses a specially made shield sometimes. He is a Fulmine class player and goes by the username "Kaminari."**

**Yo everyone. I hope this chapter was acceptable. It was kind of boring wasn't it? Oh well, anyways expect later updates from me because I have like 5 projects going on at once so yeah… But, this story will not stop so no worries.**

**Before I forget, just imagine Lambo as the brat he is in canon but looks like his TYL-self. Sometimes, he can act like his TYL-self and sometimes like a kid. So sometimes he will say "Gyahahaha!" and other times it will be "Yare yare" and such. Sometimes he might catch himself saying gyahaha and then switch to yare yare. But alas, he's still the cute little cow-boy that everyone loves, right? I hope I'm not confusing you. Gomen!**

**Anyone know why this world is named Italian for Vanish? Anyone who can guess it right gets a tuna-flavored cookie (don't worry, I didn't use you-know-who to make them). I think I left behind enough evidence behind.**

**Thanks for those who took the time to review!**

**More thanks goes to those who faved and followed/alerted!**

**Ciao Ciao!**


	12. Chapter 10: Confronting the Mist

Chapter 10: Confronting the Mist

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

* * *

_World 20- Far Sparire_

_(Vanish)_

Tendrils hung from trees, roots jutted out at sharp angles. Heavy, purple mist hung thickly, shrouding the forest in a thick murky white glow.

"Hiiiee! Let me go Hibari-san!" A blond shrieked in fear. He was madly waving his arms around, trying to grab ahold something. But, a teen with black hair pulled him onward, never letting up.

No matter how hard he tried, everything felt like it slipped out of his grasp. Once, he grabbed a vine but then it disappeared in to thin air. Tsuna was stumped; he swore he had touched it, yet it wasn't there the next time he blinked.

The walked/dragged on for several more minutes. But it never seemed like they got anywhere. The mist only allowed you to see a few feet ahead and there no eye-catching features to the forest that you could spot and remember.

Finally Hibari stopped. Tsuna was left slumped against him but Hibari made no move to get him off.

"Herbivore."

"Y-yes?"

For some reason, Hibari looked slightly uncomfortable. "Do you sense anything?"

Tsuna was dumbstruck. Hibari asking him something? What happened to his pride? He gulped "Umm no?"

"Hn." This time, he looked slightly disappointed.

"Is anything wrong Hibari-san?" Tsuna asked slowly, dreading what might happen if he said even the slightest wrong word.

But of course, Hibari didn't answer and plowed ahead once more.

Then it hit him. _'Why aren't there any monsters?'_ Tsuna thought, finally realizing what Hibari was uncomfortable about. _'When Yamamoto was talking about this forest, he was saying there was a lot of monsters here. Right? But I don't see any except for those Fantasmi back at the entrance. We definitely heard them though so they should be in here. But where are they?' _

Abruptly, Tsuna's thoughts were put to a halt when Hibari stopped again. This time though was because they were surrounded.

'_Ahh, there they are.'_ Tsuna thought dryly.

Several Diavolo Formiche crawled forward. Their giant mandibles snapped crazily, making sharp clanging noises. Large, spindly legs covered the little distance there was between the over-sized ants and them with ease. Antennae drooped down lazily but the swayed with excitement.

Fantasmi swirled nearby, staying a fair distance from the Diavolo Formiche but close enough to attack if given an opportunity.

A handful of Maiale Scimmie scaled the trees, yelping in delight. Their long tails were curled up, and their eyes had a mad glint, anticipating the battle to come.

"E-eto, Hibari-san. I think we're in trouble." Tsuna started nervously eyeing the groups of monsters.

Hibari snorted in reply. He roughly let go of Tsuna's collar then proceeded to take out his trusty tonfas.

Knowing what Hibari was doing, Tsuna did the same and drew one of his swords. _'Oh please.' _Tsuna said inwardly, _'Just an hour ago, I was emptying my wallet at a candy shop.' _

* * *

"Hahaha!"

"Urusai, Sword-freak."

"Maa maa Gokudera, your face looks like you drank spoiled milk!"

"Teme!" Gokudera pulled out his dynamite, ready to launch them at the air-headed swordsman.

"Don't use your fireworks here Gokudera, you don't want to wake up Lambo."

"Teme! They're not fireworks, they're real dynamite!"

"Haha, they're not?"

"Don't make me repeat myself Sword-freak."

Yamamoto held up his hands in defeat. "Look, we should search for Tsuna soon, he's probably getting worried.

"I'm the only one worried here! Juudaime is stuck in the middle of a creepy forest with that blood-thirsty prefect while I'm here stuck a happy-go-lucky sword-freak and a useless cow-thing." Gokudera yelled his head off, angrily pointing a finger at the cheery blue-haired teen.

"Maa maa Gokudera, I'm sure Tsuna is alright. But we should still hurry."

"Tch." Gokudera crossed his arms and turned his back to the two others. "Well I'm off." He set off into the deeper parts of the forest with no intention of looking back.

"Well, looks like we have to follow him huh Lambo?" Yamamoto said, mostly to himself.

A fainted Lambo, who was draped over Yamamoto's back, gave a groan in response.

"Yosh! Let's go." Yamamoto ran after Gokudera, unintentionally causing Lambo's head to get bashed by low-hanging branches. Several large red bumps grew on his head.

Gokudera was now only a few feet away from Yamamoto and Lambo and Yamamoto began to run a little faster to catch up with the bomber. "Wait for us Gokudera!" He called out.

But the bomber gave no sign of hearing and continued running. Slowly, he grew farther and farther away until he had completely disappeared.

"Huh? Gokudera?" A clueless Yamamoto stopped running and looked around. "Where'd ya go?"

There was no answer. "Haha! I know we must be playing hide-and-seek! Yosh, I won't lose!" Yamamoto began to run again, searching heavily for a white-haired teen and his friend Tsuna.

* * *

The sound of heavy footsteps slowly dissipated. Slightly confused, Gokudera looked over his shoulder, wondering where they had gone. There was no one there. But he swore that they had been tailing him, the stupid Sword-freak had been pretty close to catching up, he would've if given a few more seconds. But they were nowhere in sight. But knowing Yamamoto, he wouldn't just no missing, not without a reason. So where could they have gone?

"Tch. Stupid Sword-freak." Shaking the thoughts from his head, he moved forward, calling his Juudaime's name.

* * *

The closed in, hungrily eyeing their prey.

Tsuna gulped. Could two players hold up against this many monsters, there had to be at least a couple dozen of each. Tsuna glanced at Hibari. But then again, Hibari was not to be underestimated.

Just as the first Maiale Scimmie leaped, his claws outstretched, his furry face distorted by the mist, suddenly it disappeared.

Tsuna faltered in his stance. _'Where'd it go?'_ He swung around wildly. Slowly but surely, all the monsters were vanishing one by one.

"W-what's going on?" He asked no one in particular as he knew that Hibari would never answer.

"Hmph. Useless herbivores." Hibari snorted then pocketed his weapons. He jerked his head as an order for Tsuna to follow him.

Tsuna obeyed and fell in to step behind the prefect, thousands of questions swirling inside his mind.

* * *

"Oooiii! Gokudera, is it just me or are you good at hiding?" Yamamoto called out. He was getting worried, minutes must have passed but he hadn't seen a sign of life. Then, he felt some movement on his shoulder. "Oh! Lambo, you're awake, have a good nap?"

Lambo groaned, trying to get a hold on his situation. "Tsuna-nii?"

"Nope! It's Yamamoto, right now we're playing hide-and-seek, want to help?"

Lambo opened his eyes blurrily. It took him time, but slowly they came in to focus. When he finally noticed where they were, he blanched.

"Gaaaaaaaaahhh!" Promptly, he fainted again.

"Haha, are you really that tired Lambo? I wish I could fall asleep that fast." Yamamoto laughed, obvious to the fact that Lambo fainted.

"Oh well, looks like it's just me for now." Yamamoto shrugged, resuming his search. All of a sudden, he felt a tingling sensation throughout his body. "Huh, what's this?" He looked down. His body was half gone! Quickly, he tried to move his legs. He could still feel them, but he didn't see them move. What was going on? He grew ghostly pale until his shoulders and head were left. In a small "blip," he felt his vision grow dark.

* * *

"D*mn that Baseball-freak. Why does he always have to make things so hard?" Gokudera wondered out-loud. "I should have found Juudaime by now!"

He stopped walking. He was going nowhere. The forest was endless, a normal forest would have ended by now—he knew from experience. He should find Juudaime and fast. This place—Foresta Scomparendo—gave him the creeps.

He cautiously made his way through the bracken, ducking under cobwebs and batting away flies. His clothes were wet from running through the mist and he was tired. But he couldn't rest. At least, not yet, he had to find Juudaime. He forced himself onward. Abruptly, he felt the world turn upside-down. Then everything went black.

* * *

When Yamamoto opened his eyes, he was lying in a clearing next to a still-sleeping Lambo. But what caught his attention was something he swore wasn't there a second before. No—not an 'it'—but a person. But his person didn't seem normal. In the gloom, it looked like his hair was silver, shining in the half-light. He had a large scar running horizontally across his face, stretching over his nose and stopping in the middle of both of his cheeks. His wide, dark eyes stared hungrily at Yamamoto like he was prey. Sharp canines protruded from his mouth, glinting ominously.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Looks like I've caught myself something good tonight. Byon." His voice was high and gravelly; he stuck his tongue out and his mouth stretched in to a wide grin. "Gorilla Canale!" He stuck fangs in to his mouth and then his form began to morph. His shape became considerably bigger and hairier. He roared then swiped at Yamamoto.

"Oops! Looks like we're in a little trouble here huh, Lambo?" Yamamoto laughed but his face was set hard in stone, his eyes cold and calculating. He drew his sword. "Now's a good time to test out a few techniques."

* * *

Gokudera bolted up in to a sitting position. Something wasn't right. He cursed himself. What had happened? All of a sudden he was walking around the forest and the next thing he knows, he's waking up in a large field, still in the forest. He stood up, alert. Someone was creeping up on him. He searched the trees.

Emerging from the shadows was a teenager. He had a cap covering his black hair. Pupil-less brown eyes stared blankly at him, hidden behind round glases. Strangely, a barcode tattoo marked one of his cheeks.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Gokudera demanded, immediately falling in to an attacking position.

"Nothing much." The teen answered in a dead tone, his hands stuffed nonchalantly in his pockets.

"Tch." Gokudera could tell that that was a lie. It was obvious that he was here for something. Quietly, he slipped his hands in to his jacket and fingered dynamite. If things got out of hand, there was always his bow and arrow.

A yo-yo bounced up and down from the boy's hand. But after a few seconds, it came to a rest in his hand. The black-haired teen looked up. "Mukuro-sama has given me orders and I must obey them. I hope you don't mind." He whipped the yo-yo to the side and sharp-looking needles came flying out, heading straight for Gokudera.

"Sh*t."

* * *

The must have been walking for hours now. At least Hibari hadn't bitten him to death yet, what a releif. But, this forest was endless, how big could it possibly be?

Hibari stopped walking, causing Tsuna to bump in to him.

"Ite." Tsuna rubbed his nose.

"Herbivore, get ready." Hibari slipped his tonfas out of his jacket.

Now on alert, Tsuna tightened his gloves and unsheathed his sword. He unconciously stood back-to-back with Hibari. He hoped Hibari didn't mind too much, he didn't like crowding afterall.

"Kufufufufu. I do hope you are having fun. I enjoy toying with players who happen to... wander... in to my territory." An eerie voice sounded from behind a swath of vines. Two bright eyes shined disorientingly.

Tsuna tried to stifle a gasp. This person's eyes... one was a navy blue and the other was blood-red with the kanji symbol for six centered in the middle. His hair was styled like...like a pineapple? Now that was different. And what was with the laugh? It certaintly wasn't normal. Three points shined. As the man stepped closer, Tsuna realized that it was a trident in the man's gloved hand.

Behind him, he felt Hibari tense. Tsuna's stomach twisted uncomfortably.

"Welcome to Foresta Scomparendo. Enjoy your stay while it lasts, oh infamous school prefect Hibari Kyoya and the mysterious player Oozora. Or should I call you Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

* * *

**Far Spirire: Vanish- the 20th world**

**Fantasmi: Ghosts**

**Diavolo Formiche: Devil's Ants**

**Maiale Scimmie: Hog Monkeys**

**Foresta Scomparendo: Disappearing Forest**

**Gorilla Canale: Gorilla Channel- an attack used by Joshima Ken**

**Character Profiles:**

**Rokudo Mukuro: A teen with pineapple-styled navy hair with one eye of a lighter color. His other is colored red with the kanji for six in it. He wears a long black cloak and underneath wears a dirty-green collared jacket with matching pants. He wears black gloves and long, black boots. For a weapon, he uses a trident. He is of the Nebbia class and goes by the username Kiri. In the real world, his appearance doesn't differ much. The only thing different is that he doesn't wear a cloak and has a camoflauge T-shirt under his jacket.**

**Joshima Ken: A silver-haired teen with dark-grey eyes and unusually sharp teeth. He has a big scar stretching across his face. He wears a fur coat and long pants with boots. He tends to say "Byon" at the end of his sentences. As a weapon, he uses Channels or Canales in Italian. He has different sets of teeth that change him in to an animal. For example, his Gorilla Canale or Gorilla Channel gives him an ape-like appearance. In the real world, his hair is a light-blond and he has brown eyes. He wears the uniform of Kokuyo just like Mukuro. His class is Sole.**

**Kakimoto Chikusa: A teen with black hair and brown eyes. He wears glasses and a ski cap. He also wears a long-sleeved white jacket and brown pants. He follows someone called 'Mukuro-sama' obediently. His weapon of choice is a yo-yo that launches endless supplies of needles. He is of the Piogga class. In real life, he still has a bar code tatoo under one eye and has dark-blue hair with matching eyes. He wears the Kokuyo uniform just like Ken and Mukuro.**

**Hello everyone, I know it's kind of late, but I hope you had enough time to read this. Frankly, this chapter was really unexpected for me. I never though things would turn out this way, but they kind of did. Haha, Mukuro was supposed to appear last but I guess not. OTL**

**I hope this chapter didn't disappoint you, I know it might be a little confusing with all the jumping from character to charater. **

**Poor Lambo, he hardly had any appearances, I promise to those Lambo fans out there that he will get more time in the next chapter or so.**

**A thousand arigatous to those who took the time to review, favorite and/or follow/alert!**

**Ciao Ciao**


	13. SFM Special: Halloween Omake

Sette Fiamme Mondiale: Halloween Omake

**Disclaimer: I don't own KHR!**

**Important! Please note that this is not connected to the original plot line in any way. Any events, new characters, or anything that happens in this chapter has nothing to do with the main story. This omake is set after Tsuna meets all his guardians. Thank you.**

* * *

_World 50- Copione_

_(Copycat)_

The night was still young yet the moon was high, shining brightly in the night. Under a dead, gnarly tree, stood 8 teens. They were fighting. Yelling, shouting, hitting each other, attacking each other. Ah yes, this was a norm for them. Don't worry.

"Teme! How dare you touch Juudaime like that!"

"Haha, I don't think Tsuna minds. Do you Tsuna?"

"E-eto, no, not really. It's fine."

"See Gokudera? I told you it was OK."

"Hmph. If you say so Juudaime."

The cheery dark-blue-haired teen slung one of his arms back around the shoulders of a small blond. "So Tsuna, what are we going to dress up as tonight? We still have plenty of time to think something up."

Tsuna stared at Yamamoto's smiling face then over to the full moon. He sweat dropped_. 'He's wrong!'_ Tsuna though. _'Its already night! We should have started by now!' _

Around them, the others were bickering about what to dress as. Tsuna sighed. He better think of something quickly before they all killed each other. (Key the light bulb).

"Ah! Wait! You guys, I know what to do. How about we dress up as the first generation?"

Immediately, the chatter was cut off. Silence followed his comment before tons of voices erupted.

"That's an amazing idea, Juudaime. I couldn't do better myself!"

"Haha! Sounds good to me, I could be Asari Ugetsu."

"This sounds EXTREME!"

"I l-like the i-idea, Bossu."

"Gyaha—yare yare. How troublesome."

"Kufufu. How interesting."

"Hn."

Tsuna smiled. "OK then, let's begin!"

The each ran off to find appropriate costumes. Tsuna, conveniently already had his costume ready. That is, if the orange instead of black mantle counted, and if he could wear orange gloves with 'X's' on them instead of black ones with 'I's' on them.

* * *

_Gokudera_

Gokudera knew the perfect place to find what he needed. He stared up at a small store. But once he stepped inside, an expansive room greeted him. Rows and racks of colorful clothes lined the walls. Varieties of suits hung to the side, a little away from the gear and equipment. He headed strait for the formal wear that was only in this virtual world for the special occasion: Halloween.

Straining his mind to remember (which wasn't that hard when it came to Gokudera), Gokudera grabbed a light-colored beige dress-shirt and a green tie. Then, he scooted over to the pants and grabbed brown ones. For shoes he settled with the closest he could find: brown dress shoes. He already had a belt so he didn't have to worry about that.

After buying his clothes, he put a necklace he had bought also in to his pocket for his costume. With one last thing in mind; he headed over to the tattoo and makeover shop.

'_Forgive me Juudaime!'_ Gokudera silently pleaded to his precious boss.

He looked at himself in the mirror. The annoying people had given him contacts, making his eyes red. They turned his hair red—almost pink—with temporary dye, and a dark red flame-like tattoo was burned on to his face, starting from below his neck, going through his right eye and ending on his forehead. He looked like G. all right; he just hoped that Juudaime wouldn't mind too much. Good thing the tattoo wasn't permanent or else Juudaime would have a fit.

"Tch." Gokudera stared at his reflection for a few more minutes before slipping off the chair and heading over to the register to pay. Once done, he walked out, trying to ignore all the sighs and stares.

He better get dressed before meeting back up with Juudaime. Maybe he could even surprise him with how much he really did look like G. His costume was pretty d*mn good if he did say so himself. H*ll, you could say he was G.'s clone or even twin!

* * *

_Yamamoto_

He had to jump through a few worlds to get to the place he wanted. But as Yamamoto stared at the lively town, he smiled to himself. This was where made his first true friend. He couldn't help but let his mouth curl up in to a full-blown smile.

Sticking his hands behind his head, the teen walked down the streets hoping that one of these shops would have what he needed. Afterall, this was the 18th parallel world, Acquazzone, the world modeled after the old-fashioned Japan.

He strolled down the colorfully lit streets. An orchestra of sounds flared and filled the streets and indulging scents permeated the air. Trying to ignore the trinkets and food, Yamamoto tried to concentrate on what he came here for, not what he wanted.

At last, blue-and-white caught his sharp eyes. He swiftly headed to the stand where the clothes lay.

"Hello mister, may I ask how much this costs?" Yamamoto asked the man behind the counter.

"Now, now my boy, it's Halloween, take it for free!" The man winked at him.

"Haha, thanks mister!" Yamamoto picked up the robe and long black hat and slung it over his shoulder.

"No problem kid. Now, you do know that the famous Asari Ugetsu wore that outfit? Rain guardian of Primo, the very first boss of Sette Fiamme Mondiale?"

"Of course, my friends and I are going to dress up as the first generation!"

The stall manager laughed heartily. "Kids these days. Them and their dreams." He cleared his throat. "Well, have a good time my boy. Happy Halloween."

"Thanks again mister!" Yamamoto waved then walked off, looking for one last thing.

After a few minutes of endless searching, he finally came to a rest in front of a beat-up looking shop. But it wasn't that that caught his eye but the hundreds of flutes hanging from the ceiling by thin wire cords.

"Welcome to my shop, how may I help you?" An old man walked up from behind the blue-haired teen, slightly surprising him.

"Oh! Umm, I was looking for a flute, a shakuhachi if you have one."

"Well, you've come to the right place, come this way please." The old man led him to the farthest corner of the shop. "Here are all our shakuhachis, please, take your time."

"Thanks." Yamamoto said but he was already absorbed in the different kinds of flutes.

He finally settled for a brownish-red colored one with gold rings going up and down the entirety of the instrument.

"Finally choose?"

Yamamoto whipped around, he had totally forgot about the old shopkeeper. "A-ah, yeah. Thanks old man."

The guy snorted. "Well? What are you waiting for? Hurry up and move along, I have other customers waiting for me."

"Hai, hai!" Yamamoto followed the man to the counter and then paid. While the old man was putting away his money, Yamamoto sneaked a look around the shop. He sweat dropped. There wasn't another customer in sight.

* * *

_Ryohei_

"This is EXTREME!" A red-haired boy shouted excitedly, looking at himself through the reflection of a window. Although, being night, and being dressed in black, he didn't see himself very well.

A sales player timidly approached him and asked him if he could quiet down. "Umm, sir, do you mind lowering your volume? You're scaring away all of our customers…"

"Oh, I'm extremely sorry!" Ryohei spoke quietly; of course it was still loud, even for a normal person.

The salesman cringed slightly but tried to hide it. "T-thank you sir, have a good day."

"You're EXTREMELY welcome!" Ryohei shouted, returning to his loud voice.

The poor player sighed but walked back in to his store.

"NOW! I must find a red scarf to the EXTREME!" The red-haired boxer dashed off, already wearing his outfit that consisted of priest robes, and the usual bandage over his nose. His hair was already gelled so it stuck outwards instead of up like it's normal fashion. "I can't wait!"

The hyperactive boxer ran off, dashing in and out of stores, annoying players, and screaming his head off.

After gathering and putting on all his gatherings, Ryohei beamed at himself through the window. "Yosh! Now let's meet back up with Sawada to the EXTREME!"

The red-haired teen jogged to the nearest teleporter then teleported himself to world 50 where his "little brother" was probably waiting.

* * *

"Yo Sawada!" He called out, still jogging his way over.

"O-onii-san!" The blond cried, surprised.

"How do I look?" Ryohei asked, turning around in circles so his little brother could get a good view of his costume.

"E-eto…" Tsuna paused for a split second. "…Very… Extreme."

"EXTREME!" Ryohei repeated, his eyes shining. "Now, Sawada, let's have a boxing match while we extremely wait for the others!"

"Eto, I think I'll pass, Onii-san, arigatou."

"Are you sure Sawada? It is an extreme way to pass time."

"No thanks." Tsuna repeated, really not wanting to box, knowing that he stood no chance.

"Don't be afraid! C'mon, it'll be extreme!" Ryohei persisted.

"Onii-san!" Tsuna complained, pouting.

Finally, Ryohei backed down with a "humph" and he crossed his arms. "I'm going to go on an extreme run while we wait. See you later!" He ran back off, running through the fields shouting his well-known catch phrase.

Tsuna sighed with relief. It wasn't like he hated Ryohei—it's just that sometimes he got a little too…extreme…

* * *

_Mukuro and Chrome_

"M-Mukuro-sama…" The shy Chrome asked, looking up at her companion.

"Yes, my dear Nagi?"

"E-eto, w-who do I dress up as?"

Mukuro laughed creepily. "Kufufufu… Kufwahaha!"

Chrome blushed then looked down, suddenly interested in her shoes.

"Kufufu, you'll be Daemon's girlfriend Elena of course!" Mukuro beamed at her, patting her assuringly on the back.

Chrome looked back up. Her sea-blue eyes glinted in the moonlight. "Elena?"

Mukuro nodded then looked up at the moon. "Daemon, the first generation Mist guardian and Elena loved each other. They met through Giotto. It was Elena who convinced Daemon to join Giotto's guild called the Vongola."

"O-oh." Chrome looked back down and started to scuffle her feet.

The pineapple-haired teen laughed again. "Let's go now, shall we?" He took her hand and led her to various shops, telling her which clothes to get if she were to look like Elena.

"Hmm, this one looks perfect!" Mukuro held up a light-pink dress that flared out at the waist then flowed elegantly to the floor. The shoulders were puffy and the sleeves were wide around the wrists, making them ripple. A matching necktie hung limply over the dress and a small wristband was strung around one of the sleeves.

Chrome stared at it in awe. It was beautiful.

Mukuro smiled at her. "Here, I'll buy it but first I need to find my costume."

They worked their way through the sea of dress-up clothes to the men's section. But, with what Daemon Spade wore, it was going to be pretty hard to find something that would match.

They split up; each searching for a blue military uniform, red shirt, white pants, and brown boots. But, they only successfully found white pants, a red shirt, brown boots and the golden epaulette that Daemon wore on his shoulders. They met up in the middle of the store, each laden with their findings.

"S-sorry Mukuro-sama, I couldn't find the coat."

Mukuro smiled then patted her head comfortingly. "Don't worry dear Chrome, we'll make do with illusions." He snapped his fingers and Daemon's blue jacket appeared in place of his original brownish-green one.

"See?"

"O-oh."

"Now, come, let's pay then get ready. I'm sure Tsunayoshi doesn't want to wait too long." Mukuro took all the clothes from Chrome and led her over to the counter where a sales player was waiting.

"I hope you have had no problems finding everything?" The player asked politely.

"Not at all." The navy-haired teen smirked then dumped the pile of clothes onto the counter. "This is all."

The clerk's eyes widened a miniscule then hurried to start ringing the items up. When he had completed his task, he handed a stuffed bag to Mukuro. "Enjoy your night sir, miss. Happy Halloween." The ducked his head respectfully before resuming his earlier duties.

"Come now, Chrome, it's getting late."

"H-hai, Mukuro-sama." Chrome obediently followed her partner to the nearest place to change in to their costumes. Then something crossed her mind. "Umm, Mukuro-sama, what do I do about my hair?"

"What do you mean, dearest Chrome? Do you not like the pineapple haircut I gave you?" Asked a clueless Mukuro.

"A-aren't I supposed to be Elena? Doesn't she have blonde hair?"

"Oh, that never crossed my mind, thank you for reminding me, Chrome."

"O-of course Mukuro-sama." Chrome looked away with a faint blush, proud that Mukuro had praised her.

"I'll just cast an illusion on you for now, we don't have much time left." Mukuro snapped his fingers again and Chrome's hair suddenly cascaded down her back in waves. It turned from a light violet color to a startling gold although, the darkness prevented most from seeing its beauty.

Chrome let her fingers comb gently through her temporary hair. Oh how she envied Elena! Her hair was astounding. But not to say Chrome's hair was bad, she was quite happy with it actually. It was a dusky purple and Mukuro had even given her his haircut! Then, she unknowingly touched her eye-patched eye. Wait. It was gone!? She ran to the nearest window then looked at her reflection. It was hard to see but yes, her eye-patch was gone and her missing eye had been replaced with a sea-blue one, just like her other. She gasped, had Mukuro done this?

Mukuro gave her a gentle smile that if anyone else had seen, would die at the hands of the pineapple's wrath right on the spot. But, many players were busy doing other activities so no one noticed. "You look beautiful, my dear Chrome. Now, let's get dressed, Tsunayoshi can't wait any longer now can he?"

Chrome nodded her head, still a little dumbfounded by her appearance. Maybe after Halloween was over, she could start casting illusions on herself. So no one would stare at her anymore. I mean, why would a player wear an eye-patch in a game like this?

The two of them changed then made their way make to where they had separated, under the dead tree where their boss sitting there, was waiting.

"Kufufu." Mukuro entered the stage, laughing creepily.

"Mu-Mukuro! Chrome!" Their boss whirled around then stared wide-eyed at them. "Wow, you two look really nice."

"What do you expect from me? Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna laughed nervously, a trail of sweat running down the side of his face. "A lot?"

Chrome stepped out from the shadows of Mukuro; she trained both her eyes on her boss. "Bossu…"

"Ah! Chrome! You look beautiful, just like Elena!"

Chrome blushed and ducked her head. "T-thank you Bossu."

Tsuna smiled down at her, "Now we just have to wait for the others to come back. Onii-san came already, but he's off training for some reason."

Mukuro smirked evily. "How about we do something to kill a little time..."

* * *

_Lambo_

As the little curly-haired boy walked down the streets of town, he tried to remember what Lampo, the first generation Lightning guardian looked like.

"Ah! I remember! Gyahaha, Lambo-san needs rope! And a white shirt!" He laughed haughtily, gaining stares from passer-byes.

Running to the nearest item shop, Lambo picked out some thin rope then proceeded to the clothing stores. He entered one then looked for the section marked under "Holiday Special." He weaved his way expertly through the mass of clothes. A plain white dress-shirt caught his eye. He unhooked it then slung in over his shoulder.

'_Looks like It'll fit, now I think I need navy pants.' _ He quickly found some dress pants with black shoes. '_Perfect!' _He went to the counter and paid then sneaked back in to the dressing rooms to change. _'Green hair?'_ Lambo thought_, 'how will I do that?' _He paused for a moment, deep in thought. _'I know! I'll just use candy! I'll get some green candies and stick them in my hair until it looks green!' _

"Gyahaha! Lambo-san has amazing ideas!" The blue-haired kid ran off to the first candy shop on sight. But before you could blink, he was zipping out, with armfuls of candy, laughing maniacally.

Lambo looked at his reflection. Perfect! His hair was laden with green sticky candy making not only look more like a rat's nest but also like a poisonous pool of gunk. But of course, the little cow though it was perfect.

Green slime had dripped down on to his white dress shirt and Lambo looked at it with a pout. Well, it didn't ruin his look that much. It was just a little stain.

Then he looked at his image again. He forgot something! Trying to improvise, he found a sheet of blank paper and drew a green lightning bold on to it. Then, using the sticky candy on his shirt, he rubbed it on the paper and stuck it on his cheek, right over his # mark. Then he looked back at himself. Aww, forget about the eyes, he was close enough.

"Gyahaha! Lambo-san just knows that Tsuna-nii will love Lambo-san's outfit." He dashed out of the bathroom heading for the nearest teleporter. He got many stares.

* * *

_Hibari_

Now, Hibari didn't really care what those other Herbivores like to do. He had only one interest: fighting the Omnivore again. That was the only reason why he tagged along. Well no, the Omnivore forced him to stay and crowd. It was unbearable. But, for some reason, he couldn't say no.

And so, here, he found himself staring longingly at a vampire outfit with a plush bat toy sitting on its shoulder. But no, the Omnivore wanted them to dress as the first generation. That means he had to be that stupid Herbivore named Alaude. He would NOT dye his hair blond. It was absolutely against school rules. But then again, this was a game… No, he shouldn't think about it.

Hibari turned away from the long cape and pair of fangs. Instead, he set off looking for a black trench coat and long black pants—wait, no, he could just use the pants he was using now. And his shoes were fine, he just needed the trench coat, and purple dress shirt and tie.

Feeling self-conscious, he entered a store and before he knew it, he was out the door, not wanting to crowd much longer.

He came out fully dressed even with icy-blue eyes. But not blond hair, no way. Now it was time to meet up with the Herbivores. He hoped they didn't crowd too much. Or else he would ditch them and take a nap.

* * *

_Tsuna_

He looked at his friends, smiling serenely. Gokudera had done a perfect job dressing up like G. Yamamoto looked like a replica of Asari, Onii-san looked OK but he had forgotten about his hair color. Mukuro and Chrome had done a fabulous job but Tsuna knew that Mukuro had cheated and used his illusions on some parts of his and Chrome's costumes. For a second, his jaw almost dropped. Chrome had two eyes! But then he quickly rethought that fact, if you looked closely, the new eyes was rimmed with indigo flames, the work of Mukuro. Then, he switched his gaze over to Lambo and this time, he couldn't help himself from letting his jaw drop. But he quickly closed it. Lambo had somehow stuck hundreds of green candy to his hair to make it look green. Lambo himself didn't seem bothered by it but the wet candy—probably drooled on so it would stick—was dripping all over the place. Oh well, he would worry about that later. Finally, he dragged his eyes over to Hibari. Hibari's eyes were closed and a look of annoyance had crossed his face. But, he opened them to glare at Tsuna before closing them again. Tsuna inwardly cringed both at his appearance and his cold-blue eyes. Of course Hibari would never take such measures as to dye his hair, he stuck to the student and school code like glue. Otherwise, he had done a good job. Tsuna himself looked pretty good. Not as good as his guardians he must admit but still pretty close to Primo. His cape was orange instead of black, he had orange gloves, and don't forget his new suit, he bought just a while ago. The defense it gave him was incredible! But let's not talk about that now.

Tsuna smiled at all his friends dressed up as the first generation. "Minna, let's go." He stood up with a sweep of his cape and they all followed him obediently. Once they had reached their destination, Tsuna turned back to them. There were lots of other parties dressed up, talking, chattering, so Tsuna had to raise his voice.

"I entered us in a Holiday Special Quest. The goal is to collect as many ghosts and pumpkins we can find. There will be no combat; it's just for fun. If our team wins, we win a trophy. We will be competing against other teams so do your best!" He smiled at them, knowing that they would.

His guardians cheered with the exception of Hibari who turned his back and Mukuro who smirked evilly.

Tsuna caught himself. "And no killing, hurting, or maiming." He looked pointedly at most of his guardians. Some of which turned down their gaze disappointedly.

"Yosh, we're team 10, let's have some fun!"

They ran off together with Tsuna in the lead and Hibari trailing at the end.

* * *

"Gyahahahaaa! Lambo-san found one, Lambo-san found one!"

Not wanting to pet his head, Tsuna settled for putting his hand on the little boy's shoulder. "Wow Lambo, you sure have a good eye. Go on, put it in to your inventory and let's keep going."

Lambo beamed proudly and picked up the mini-pumpkin, tossing it up into the air where it then vanished, tucked away with Lambo's collection of items.

"Ready, let's go!" Tsuna grabbed the kid by the hand and they continued on their way, working as a large team to find and collect the hidden items.

"Haha! This sure is fun, we should do this more often!" Yamamoto laughed, picking up a stuffed ghost.

"Easy for you to say Sword-freak, you're the one finding all of them." Gokudera spat, still empty-handed, not having found a single item. "Tch, I need to help Juudaime win d*mn it! Come out you stupid pumpkins, I'll search high and low for you if it means that Juudaime can win!" The now red-haired teen began to hunt in the bushes and trees for the items, not wanting to let his boss down.

"G-Gokudera-kun, you don't have to do all this for me, this was meant for all of us to enjoy ourselves.

"But Juudaime—!" Gokudera was cut off by the loud noises coming from a boxer.

"I EXTREMELY FOUND ONE!" A mini-Knuckle shouted excitedly, showing the small white ghost to everyone before it disappeared into his bag.

"Haha." Tsuna laughed weakly at his friends' antics. Then, remembering the task at hand, he resumed the search.

"Umm, Bossu."

From behind him, a voice piped up.

"Yes Chrome, what is it?" Tsuna asked, turning around expectantly.

Chrome shifted uncomfortably. "E-eto, I found one." She stuck out her hands that were holding a small pumpkin. She ducked her head shyly.

Tsuna smiled comfortingly at the girl. "That's great Chrome! Keep it somewhere then continue the good work, ne?"

"H-hai, Bossu." She stuck the pumpkin away then dashed over to Mukuro who petted her head proudly.

Tsuna couldn't help but stare at Chrome's retreating form. She really did look better without an eye patch. Of course, he knew that it was just one of Mukuro's illusions but still. Chrome was a little too shy for her own good. Tsuna sighed then signaled for his team to move on to another place, knowing that they had found everything in that area.

From the corner of Tsuna's eye, he saw Hibari knocking down trees with his tonfas then collecting the fallen items before moving on to the next. Tsuna sweat dropped. Then, competing with the skylark was yours truly, Pineapple head. Mukuro had his trident out and was stabbing randomly in every direction. With coincidental luck, every time his trident reappeared from the shadows, a new item was hanging off of the spikes. And not only that, but he was also laughing his head off with every item he "killed."

Unconsciously, Tsuna inched away, focusing his attention back on the rest of his somewhat-sane guardians.

Lambo had ghosts and pumpkins stuck in his makeshift candy-hair. Chrome was nervously trying to get Mukuro to calm down a little. Yamamoto was laughing happily, pocketing tons of items he had found by pure luck. And Gokudera was still searching frantically from head to toe, still without any items.

Quickly, Tsuna looked through his inventory. He had only found 4 pumpkins and 2 ghosts. He felt himself flush with embarrassment. Of course, it wasn't as bad as Gokudera but maybe he was Dame-Tsuna after all. But he won't give up! He pounced on the nearest bush and began his search.

* * *

A loud blare of a horn sounded throughout the whole land of Copione.

Tsuna and the gang looked up, startled.

"It that the end?" Gokudera began.

"Yeah, it seems so, I guess we have to head back now." Tsuna responded, getting many complaints. _'Well, at least they had fun.'_

Tsuna yet again let the way back to where they had set off. Many other players stared at their uncanny resemblance to the first generation but shook it off as just a coincidence. Tsuna shifted uncomfortably against the gazes but held his head high and continued onward to where the contestants were turning in their findings.

The eight of them stopped in front of a lady dressed like a black cat who looked at them with a bored face. "Hurry up, empty out your bags, I don't have all night."

"Hai, hai." Tsuna fumbled with his screen before emptying its contents. His guardians did the same.

"Alright, you can leave now, the winners will be announced shortly." The woman dismissed them with a bored wave of her hand before slowly starting to count the total amount of items.

"Ahh, that was fun!" Yamamoto sighed happily, staring at his friends.

"Gyahaha, Lambo-san was the best ne, Tsuna-nii?" Lambo bounced up and down, the candy in his hair slowly falling off.

"I think we all did our best Lambo." Tsuna replied, not wanting to hurt the little boy's feelings.

Lambo pouted. "But Lambo-san got the most!"

Tsuna sighed resignedly, "I'm sure you did Lambo."

Lambo began to run and tell the other guardians, rubbing it in their faces.

Ticked off, Hibari knocked him on the head with a tonfa. "Be quiet or I'll bite you to death!"

Lambo, knowing what was best for him, backed off immediately.

"That was EXTREME!" Ryohei yelled to the sky, pumping his fists. "We should do it next year too, and the next!"

"Haha, if everyone else wants to, we can do it again. And I'm sure they will have other Holiday Specials for different holidays, Onii-san." Tsuna replied, attempting to get the boxer to quiet down.

"That sounds EXTREME!" Ryohei pumped his fists.

"Urusai Turf-top, your're hurting Juudaime's ears with your loud voice!"

"What did you EXTREMELY say Taco-head?"

"I said, URUSAI!" The ticked off bomber shouted, pulling out his dynamite.

But before a full-blown fight could break out, the loudspeakers came on and a man's voice filled the air.

"Thank you, players, for participating in the Halloween Hunt. I appreciate all your hard work but I know you don't want to hear my ramblings so let's get down to the main event."

There was some laughter.

"The results are in, and now, it is time to announce the winning party!" There was a pause and the audience erupted with cheers. "Are you ready?" The crowd responded whole-heartedly. "And the winning party is…" The announcer trailed off then his face was that of surprise. "Vongola X with a total of 798 items! A new record!" There were whoops and whistles. "Please, Vongola X, step forward."

The group of friends, surprised, walked up to the stage where the man was waiting.

"Congrats, a job very well done. I'm sure we won't have another party finding as much as you did today." The audience laughed. "Now, I present you with your prize." The man walked over to a table where a black and orange trophy stood. He picked it up and handed it to Tsuna.

Tsuna accepted it then held it up. Cheers exploded from the crowd accompanied by thousands of claps. Tsuna couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. He looked one-by-one at his guardians proudly. Each of them (including Hibari) smiled back.

Each of them shared the same thought. Although they had never expected to win, they had a good time, working together side-by-side, forgetting about petty rivalries and instead, working together with a single goal in mind: to have fun. They happily shared a knowing look. They would treasure this memory for life.

* * *

**Copione: Copycat- the 50****th**** parallel world**

**Acquazzone: Downpour- the 18****th**** parallel world**

**Shakuhachi: a Japanese flute**

**Epaulette: A type of ornamental shoulder piece**

**Yo yo yo, good people! How's you're Halloween coming along? Getting lots of candy? I know it's late but this chapter took longer than expected. I even skipped trick-or-treating to finish it! But who cares, I don't eat much candy anyway. I do hope no one is to OOC, I felt like their characters were a little off but tell me what you think! I know this isn't very Halloween-centered even though it's a Halloween Omake but it's OK right? I had them dress up as the first gen, but I didn't do much about it. But I just had to do it cuz I thought it would be fun. I haven't edited this chapter yet so just tell me if there are any mistakes!**

**Ciao Ciao! And Happy Halloween to everyone!**


	14. Chapter 11: From the Past to the Present

Chapter 11: From the Past to the Present

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

* * *

Tsuna set down the mini handbook to Sette Fiamme Mondiale and then moved to clip the game device onto his arm. He lay down in his bed, above the covers. The lights were off and the house quiet. No one would disturb him.

His parents were off somewhere enjoying themselves without him so he was alone. He had waited forever to buy this game and he couldn't help the excitement that bubbled up within him. It was time.

He closed his eyes and the second he did, the split-second show of black turned into a binding array of rainbow colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. The colors flew past in a blur. Finally, it seemed as if the source had run out of streaks and the brunet found himself standing in a blank expanse of space. A single screen was held up in front of him.

_Welcome to Sette Fiamme Mondiale. Please choose a username and password._

Tsuna thought for a bit then decided on 'Oozora', he liked the sound of it. Then, he used his username with a few numbers at the end for his password. Nice and simple, easy to remember. (He usually forgets a lot of important things).

_Thank you Oozora, please stand still for your class test._

Tsuna froze, not sure if this was important or not. He held his breath in anticipation.

A light shone on him. He felt it warm his insides as if it were working its way through his entire being. When it flickered off, the warm feeling didn't disappear—it stayed somewhere close to his heart.

_Congratulations, your class is Cielo. As a Cielo, you may choose a weapon._

Several choices of weapons popped up and knowing that he would change his choice later, he picked a small set of daggers. Something light and portable as well as something you could use for sneak attacks.

_Now, choose the appearance of your avatar._

Several choices of bodies showed in human-sized forms. Tsuna spent a long time choosing as he didn't know which one would look cool.

Finally, he settled with blond hair and golden eyes. The rest of his avatar took on his own appearance including height, weight and so on.

_Please prepare to be transported to Città di Inizi in World 1- Avviamento._

In a blink of an eye, Tsuna found himself dressed in a typical starter outfit colored orange. His set of daggers were draped around his waist hanging off of a belt. The brunet stared at his surroundings for a few seconds before heading off to get some equipment that would serve him for the first few battles.

The town was peaceful. Hundreds of both new and old players were wandering the streets, becoming acquainted with the stores and roads. The air blew sweetly, ruffling shirts and getting under coats, refreshing to those who noticed it.

But, before he could move, a gruff voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Hey Hotaka, looks like there's a new one. Looks pretty oblivious to me, wanna' take him?"

"Go ahead, Boss said to grab any new players. This one is included."

"Alright." Came the response.

Before he knew it, a rough hand was clapped around his mouth and an arm wrapped around his body.

"Sorry kid, I hate to ruin your first experience playing this game but Boss's orders, no one wants to disobey."

His instincts told him to flee on the spot, to run for his life. Or he could fight but the man's arm restricted his movements, not allowing his to even finger his daggers. He kicked and struggled in the man's grip, trying to kick somewhere where it hurt.

"Stop moving, I won't hurt you." The man laughed hoarsely. "That'll come later."

* * *

Tsuna soon found himself in a dark room, behind bars. No, this was not a police station or anything of that sort. This was something far more dangerous. Or so it seemed.

Around him, a couple of other kids were gagged or tied up. Many even sported bruises and cuts. Ropes tied their arms back so they couldn't log out and they had been taken to a place far away from the city. And to top it off, they were just beginners! There was no chance of escape if not low. But, he would make sure to formulate a plan of escape later on, now, the should find players that would side with him.

The brunet looked at the other captives, searching for ones who at least weren't scared out of their minds. One had long purple hair and large amethyst eyes. Next to her sat a boy with short blueish hair and matching eyes. Hold on. Was that a pineapple? Wait. No, that was just the boy's haircut. Then, grouped a little farther off were a pair of boys. One had dirty silver hair with grey, almost black eyes. The other had black hair and brown eyes with glasses. The other kids never really caught his eye. They all looked simple and scared.

After a few moments of waiting for something to happen, a man stepped up. His entire appearance screamed black. His eyes, his hair, his clothes, his glasses…

"Greetings my dear players. My name is Achille, the boss of the Estraneo guild. As you are probably wondering, why are you here? Well, you have been chosen to lead this virtual world to a new future. My guild and I are developing special powers to give each and every one of you extra support when fighting monsters and other players. Our goal is to build this virtual world in to a powerful place for players to enjoy all they want with power at their disposal." The man let his words sink in before continuing.

"From now on, you will be known as the number we give you." He pointed to each player, reading off numbers from a list. When he got to Tsuna, his eyebrow rose the slightest bit. "27." When he was done, he looked up, staring at each player in turn, his gaze finally resting on Tsuna, making him feel squeamish.

"Now, I have one last thing to say. Think of it as an honor to die by being part of the development." With that said, he walked off down a dark hallway, his glasses glinting dangerously.

A few guild members came and lugged the players off two by two and tossing them in to large prisons with steel bars.

Tsuna fought the person who came to him viciously, trying to get him to back off. But it was no use. The rope stopped him from doing real damage and he was carried off just like the rest. The person tossed him in to a cage with 4 other people in it. With a start, he realized that they were the same players he was looking at a few minutes ago. The blond sat up, trying to ignore the stinging pain in his arm that he had landed on. He looked wearily at the four then scooted himself in to a corner.

How had it ended up like this? Just a few minuets ago, he was in his room enjoying the thought of finally playing Sette Fiamme Mondiale. And now, here he was, stuck with no possible way of logging out. Not to mention that man had said something along the lines of them being guinea pigs.

Tsuna miserably curled up the best he could, trying not to attract too much attention to his prison mates. He breathed in deeply and let it out in a tortured sigh.

Suddenly, his head shot up. The room, it smelled like… blood. He could recognize the metallic smell anywhere after getting bullied for the thirteen years of his life. His gaze left scorching marks over the cage. He notified the large bloodstains on the floor and walls, the dents lining the steel bars and the scratches along the corners where people had attempted escape.

He felt horror build up inside him. Bile rose up in his throat. Obviously they weren't the first to experience this, the blood looked days old if not months. There had been players before them. But what happened to them? You can't completely die in this game. When and if you do, you always respawn in Città di Inizi. Where'd they go? The question remained stuck in his head until he drifted off in to a troubled sleep. Subconsciously, he felt the stare of his prison mates on him.

* * *

It wasn't pleasant to wake up.

A hand roughly jerked Tsuna awake then dragged him off by some of the hanging ropes. Tsuna's eyes were wide in fear. What were they going to do to him? He stared pleadingly at the others but they only stared back, equally afraid.

"Hm, looks like you may be compatible with the Deathparation Experiment, 27. Let's go."

Tsuna was dragged off. He was draped over the man's shoulder, staring at the four other kids who were left behind.

He was shoved onto a hard, metal table covered with a single white sheet. Needles and scary-looking equipment stood innocently on counters. One man with a lab coat stood, holding a glass vial of red liquid.

"Experiment 27?" The man in the lab coat asked, eyeing the new player.

"Yessir." The man who had brought Tsuna responded, bowing.

"Great, set him on the table here." The man motioned for him to be set down. The red liquid splashed around in its container threatening to spill.

As soon as Tsuna was placed on the table, the ropes were cut and removed. Only to be replaced with the cuffs that had been infused into the metal table.

Tsuna's heart beat painfully against his chest. He tugged and pulled at the steel cuffs but to no avail. Sweat slowly trickled down the side of his face and down his neck, sending small shivers up and down his spine. The man with the lab coat dismissed the lowly grunt then moved to inspect Tsuna. His critical eye surveyed his body for what felt like months. Finally, the man moved. He forcibly opened Tsuna's jaw and poured the red liquid down his throat.

Immediately, the blond gagged. It tasted horrible! It was metallic like blood but it had a sharper, hot taste to it that made his throat tingle uncomfortably. He coughed until his stomach hurt, trying to get the bitter taste out of his mouth but it stayed.

"Calm down 27, I just gave you the Dying Will Solution. The affects should kick in in a few seconds so please, wait patiently." The man set down the vial and watched Tsuna expectantly, waiting for something to happen.

At first, Tsuna didn't know if feeling nothing was good or bad. He didn't feel anything in particular. He felt normal.

But he thought too soon. Instantaneously, searing hot pain burned through his whole body. A scream was ripped from his mouth. He couldn't stop it from coming. The pain was so horrendous—he had never experienced pain like this before. His vision blacked out for a second before sparking back on. The world was blurry but he could clearly see the smiling face of the scientist, as if taunting him.

But there was nothing he could do. The excruciating pain didn't let up a bit if not, it only got worse. Tsuna could tell he was slipping in and out of consciousness, there was something preventing him from blacking out. He wished dearly for the agony to stop but it never did.

He didn't know how much time went by but when the torture did stop, he was left panting and sweating heavily. Soft whimpers were escaping his lips. This was worse than getting bullied. And anyway, shouldn't he have died by now and respawned in Città di Inizi? Why was he still lying helplessly on the experiment table?

The scientist's face loomed down upon him. "Looks like you're compatible if you're still alive, that's good news. No one has ever survived the Deathparation Experiment before. Congratulations, you're the first." The man clapped with mock enthusiasm.

All Tsuna could do was stare at him helplessly. Please let this torture end.

"Alright, we'll continue the next stage in a few hours, right now I have to move on to my next experiment."

A grunt moved in and unclipped Tsuna from the table. He slung him over his shoulder, not caring about the well being of the player. But Tsuna was too tired and worn out to complain. His body hurt so much that he couldn't feel anything else. He had gone completely numb.

The cages went by in a blur, all filled with the same expressions and emotions: terror.

When they arrived at Tsuna's assigned cage, the grunt flung him in, leaving him in a crumpled heap by the wall.

The pain wasn't as bad. But it still hurt terribly. His body ached all over and his eyes stung with salty tears from pain or misery—which, he did not know.

Slowly, his prison mates closed in around him, looking at him with possibly worried gazes.

"A-are you okay?" A soft voice asked accompanied by a hand that softly stroked his fluffy head of hair.

Tsuna managed a nod.

"Hmph, doesn't look like it, byon." A new voice entered, sounding slightly rough and wild.

"Ken, I don't think you should be talking like that right now." Another teen's voice rebuked the other. His eyes were staring at the little boy who was curled up in obvious discomfort.

"You two can be quiet." This time, an almost eerie murmur came from behind the rest.

The two obliged, backing off and letting the newcomer see the boy.

"Hello, I'm Kiri, what's yours?"

Slightly surprised by the demeanor this person held (he didn't seem the type to politely greet himself), Tsuna moved his lips and attempted to make a sound.

"Oozora."

The boy held out a hand. His face wasn't very clear but a warm smile clearly lit it up. "Nice to meet you Oozora, I hope we can get along."

* * *

**Città di Inizi: City of Beginnings**

**Avvaimento: Start- the 1****st**** world.**

**The Estraneo guild's boss, Achille means "He who embodies the grief of the people" don't you think it kind of fits his role?**

**Yeah, you'll probably have a lot of questions for me right? I'll do my best to answer them. Also, if this chapter doesn't run smoothly and confuses you, tell me and I'll either fix it or clarify it with you. Is Mukuro a little OOC? Yeah, probably but don't forget that this is before he turns bitter and kills the Estraneo so he can't be the sadistic pineapple head he is now.**

**Sorry for not updating on Saturday, I had too much going on and I couldn't even touch the computer. But, I hope this chapter makes up for the delay.**

**Thanks to those who reviewed, faved, and alerted/followed.**

**Fun fact: In Mr. Rebokku no Ciao Ciao Interview Mukuro said that the amount of fu's in his signature "kufufu" laugh depends on his mood. If he's in a good mood, the amount of fu's in his laugh will increase.**

**Another fun fact: Mukuro has the same seiyuu as Mochida.**

**On your way out, why don't you review?**

**Ciao Ciao!**


	15. Chapter 12: From the Past to the Present

Chapter 12: From the Past to the Present Part 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

* * *

**AN: I should probably say this before hand so you don't get confused. Ken's username is Dobutsu and the Estraneo call him Experiment #14. Chikusa's username is Kakipi and the Estraneo call him Experiment #49. Chrome's username is Kirisame and her experiment number is 96. Mukuro's username is Kiri and his number is 69.**

* * *

_World 1- Avvaimento_

_(Start)_

When Tsuna's hands were free, he swiped one down to bring up his home screen. He clicked through until he got to the Logoff. His hopes rising, he pressed it but as soon as he did, it brought up a new window reading:

_Logoff not possible. Please leave no-logoff zone._

His hopes plummeted as he slowly closed the windows, staring blackly at where they had disappeared.

Beside him, there was some movement as his newfound friends groggily woke up from their troubled sleep.

"Mornin' Oozora." Kiri sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"Ohayo Kiri." Tsuna tired to forget about whet he was doing earlier and instead, focus on surviving the day.

"How many days now?" Kiri asked, scooting over to his prison mate.

"Umm… I think today marks 13. Almost 2 weeks."

"Oh. And how's the plan coming along?"

"Ask Chikusa when he wakes, he should know more."

"Alright." Kiri yawned his faced scrunching up.

"Your lucky y'know, you haven't been experimented on yet. Maybe we can escape before you are." Tsuna looked at his friend.

"It's only a matter of time." Kiri looked down, dreading they day that it would happen.

"Hmph." Tsuna tried his best to snort. "Anyways, do you think anyone is worried back in the real world? About missing children?"

"No." Kiri answered, traces of bitterness in his voice. He left it at that.

"Oh, same here I guess." Tsuna looked down at the bloodstained floor. His stomach grumbled unhappily at him and a faint blush creeped up to stain his cheeks.

Kiri laughed a little albeit a little hoarsely. "Hungry? The guards should be coming soon. Hopefully."

"U-un." Tsuna nodded. Even though it wasn't real life, the game was still meant to act like it so you could get hungry and sustain injuries—threatening or not.

"Hey, how about we talk about our life back in the real world?" Kiri suggested to pass time as they waited for the guards to come by.

"I-if you want." Tsuna answered, thinking that family might be a touchy topic for Kiri based on what he said earlier.

Kiri smiled at him. His navy-blue eyes stared at him for a little bit before he settled himself down against the steel walls. He patted the ground and Tsuna moved in to sit next to him.

"I live in Italy." Kiri started, looking at the ceiling, an almost longing look in his gaze. "My parents abandoned me when I was young so I've been living and supporting myself for a few years." He looked over at Ken and Chikusa. "I found those two on the streets and before I knew it, we had become close to a family." Then he dragged his gaze over to Kirisame. "After Dobutsu and Kakipi, I met her." His gaze softened slightly. "Her parents don't care for her so she ran away. So we took her in." He laughed softly, "Before long, we were a tightly-knit group that always stayed together no matter what."

"Ah, that's nice." Tsuna commented.

"Soon, we were able to support ourselves with jobs that we took all around town. It might have seemed impossible at first, but we were able to find a place where we could stay. Then, we came across this game." Kiri gestured around him then laughed bitterly. "And here we are."

'_Poor Kiri.' _Tsuna though sadly_, 'A life full of hardships, kind of like me.'_

"How about you?"

"Ah, umm…" Tsuna trailed off, thinking about what to say. "My parents are always away from home." He started, looking at the floor. "They're always out claiming that it's for business. They barely come home. When and if they do, it's once every year at best."

"Oh." Kiri said, feeling empathy for the blond.

"You don't have to feel sorry you know. I've gotten used to it." Tsuna traced circles on the floor. "I'm not very good in school or sports." He smiled half-heartedly, "everyone at school calls me 'Dame-Tsuna.'"

"What?!" Kiri exclaimed, incredulously. "You're far from being a loser! You're nice, kind, and fun!"

"Hmph." Tsuna snorted. "My classmates don't think that way. But it's OK, I think I'm getting better at avoiding them."

"Where do you live?" Kiri inquired.

"Namimori, Japan."

"Great!" Kiri jumped up. "As soon as we get out of this place, we'll fly over and beat of those bullies and knock some sense into them!"

"Y-you don't have to do that." Tsuna cringed slightly.

Apparently, Kiri's excitement had finally woken up the others. They each sat up rubbing sleep from their eyes.

"I was trying to get some sleep here, byon." Dobutsu grumbled unhappily.

"Don't listen to Dobutsu." Kakipi cut in, "He's just in a bad mood."

"Good morning everyone." Kirisame bowed to Tsuna politely.

"Good morning." Tsuna responded automatically.

Suddenly, the door to the cage creaked open and a burly-looking man entered. "Here's your breakfast." He grumbled, tossing a loaf of bread in.

As soon as he was gone, Kiri walked to the bread and poked it. "It's stale." He sighed.

"At least they're giving us something." Kakipi shoved his broken glasses up his nose.

Kiri broke the bread apart into somewhat equal pieces. He handed each piece to everyone then sat down. They all ate in silence, feeling uncomfortable despite the situation they were in.

"Am I the only one who has undergone an experiment so far?" Tsuna broke the silence, staring at each of his prison mates in turn.

There was a chorus of "yeses."

Tsuna sighed and nibbled a little at his bread. "Maybe we should keep it that way. I'll take all your guy's experiments for you so you can focus on getting out of here."

"No way!" Dobutsu exploded, "that isn't fair, you'll die that way!"

"It's not like it matters." Tsuna retorted, "that's why they are using us, we'll always come back."

"Now, now you two, don't go too far. We don't want a fight breaking out." Kiri interrupted, placing a claming hand on Tsuna's shoulder. "We'll think about it later."

Dobutsu sat down with a cross reply then continued to tear at his bread. Kakipi looked at him with a blank face as if contemplating whether or not he should comment on Dobutsu's outburst. But, he thought better of it and resumed his eating.

Kirisame looked at them as if they were slightly crazy. "So, the plan?"

"Oh yes." Kakipi set down his bread then shoved his glasses up his face again. "I've been trying to make contact with other captives but there doesn't seem to be anyone near our cage. If we want to recruit players, our only time would be when we are taken out for an experiment. But, so far within the two weeks we've been stuck here, only Oozora has been out. And that was only once."

"But when they do take us out, why don't we just escape ourselves?" Dobutsu asked.

"And leave them here to die over and over again, subjected to experiments like this? I know you haven't experienced it yet, but it's like going though hell." Tsuna added, looking pointedly at Dobutsu.

Dobutsu backed down, an embarrassed look on his face.

"So, when do we start?" Kiri looked at Kakipi.

"Weren't you listening? Our only window of opportunity is when one of us is taken out of the cage. Only then can we attempt escape and contact all the other prisoners."

Kiri nodded in understanding.

"S-so whoever is unlucky enough to get chosen is also lucky enough to put our plan in action." Kirisame said, looking at the cage bars.

"Seems like it, I'm not sure if anyone would take that risk though. But one of us has to."

"We don't have a choice, they choose whoever they want, you can't make them take you." Tsuna butted in, placing a firm hand on the floor and looking at everyone in the eye.

Kiri laughed. "You sure are amusing, Oozora."

Tsuna felt his cheeks heat up. "Am not! I'm just stating the obvious!"

"Anyways, we'll just have to sit and wait out he storm for now." Kakipi lay down and stared up at the ceiling. "Which means we'll just have to do our best to stay entertained.

They each followed Kakipi's example and lay down in their respective corners of the cage. But, before they could relax, someone banged the door open and looked at them with glaring eyes. His gaze settled on Kiri who noticed and backed away, slowly.

"C'mon Experiment 69, you're going to be put through one of our toughest experiments." The man cornered Kiri and pulled him up by the arm. He slung him over his shoulder and then walked out.

Kiri looked like a deer in headlights but he nodded at them in confirmation to start the little escapade they planned. Each of them nodded back.

As soon as he got his answer, he jerked and twisted in the man's grip but the man held strong and wouldn't let go. So, thinking up different ways, he kicked the man where the sun doesn't shine.

Screams of pain filled the hallways. Tsuna grinned at his friends who were left. "Looks like he's doing it."

* * *

Kiri, tumbled off the man's shoulder and landed on the ground hard. But, that didn't matter, right now; he had to get to other players. He jumped to his feet and started to run through the maze. Doorways were scattered everywhere so he peeked into some of them. But one room made him stop in his tracks.

There was a little boy lying on a steel table. His glassy eyes were staring at nothing, and his limbs lay limply over the table. Men in coats walked around the room with clipboards, scribbling madly. Several were yelling at each other but he words, Kiri couldn't make out. Why was the boy still here? If he died, then he should have disappeared already or at least have come back to life.

Suddenly, he felt large hands clamp on to his shoulders and hold him still so he wouldn't escape.

"What are you doing here boy?" A voice spoke, low and gruff.

Thoughts whirled through Kiri's brain, trying to think something up. "I-I…"

The man grunted. "I bet that you're the next one right?" With that, he lugged Kiri inside the room.

Kiri's eyes were wide in horror. The men in coats were just disposing of the body as they turned around to see who had entered the room.

"Ahh, that's Experiment 69 right?" One of the scientists asked, casually holding the dead body to his side.

"Yes, it seems so." The man who had captured Kiri nodded.

"Great, our previous experiment just failed, it's about time we started on the next one." Another scientist took the body from the previous one and then dumped it in a trashcan.

Kiri shuddered in horror and turned his gaze away. He hoped that he didn't end up like that.

The man who captured Kiri picked him up and placed him on the bloodstained table. It felt cold under his skin and it was still sticky and wet from its previous tenant. Cuffs were latched around his arms and legs to prevent him from escape. A bright light shone right above his head, lowering his visibility. The men in lab coats were all but a blur.

"Alright, Experiment 69, welcome to room 55. In this room, our goal is to help you gain power. You are going to go through what we call The Six Paths of Hell."

* * *

Tsuna and the rest of them waited for Kiri to reappear. But he didn't. They had been waiting for minutes on end by now. He should have returned with news. But he didn't. He hadn't come.

Dobutsu was pacing the cage restlessly, Kakipi was nervously tapping against the floor and walls, and Kirisame was huddled in the corner with a slightly worried look. Tsuna himself was standing with his hands wrapped around the metal bars of the cage, cautiously peering out. There wasn't any sign of life at all.

"What do you think happened? Did he get caught?" Kirisame spoke up, her soft voice echoing through the halls.

"No, he couldn't have been." Tsuna shook his head but couldn't help but feel that what Kirisame had said was true.

"The plan wasn't perfect." Kakipi added, looking at Tsuna.

"He's too strong to get caught." Dobutsu sniffed then resumed his pacing.

Tsuna sighed in resignation. All they could do was wait.

* * *

The only sensation Kiri could feel was pain. If there were anything worse than pain, well, he would use that to describe what he was going through right now.

The scientists had hooked up a machine to his body. It seemed as if they were injecting some sort fire in to him. It burned so horribly that it was as cold as ice. It spread though his entire body as if his blood had turned into lava.

There were beeps sounding in a rhythmic pattern somewhere off to the side. It was the only thing that kept him conscious. If he focused on the beeps, he would remain awake. But, something in his mind was telling him to just let go, to close his eyes and give in to his pain. The rest will be taken care of. But, he didn't give in to the temptation. His friends were depending on him and if he chose to take a nap now, he might never wake up. Just like that previous experiment.

'_No, boy.'_ He corrected himself, the boy was not a 'thing' it was a 'person.' And they killed him.

Slowly, the beeps slowed. With a start, Kiri realized that the beeps came from a machine that read his heartbeat. It was his heart! Dread creeped up his spine was he going to die?

"The experiment! It's failing!" Someone cried, working frantically at controls. He was pressing buttons and shifting gears that Kiri didn't know what were for.

Another growled, "Don't let this one fail, Boss wants us to complete this experiment. It's one of the most important ones."

"S-sorry sir, but it doesn't look like 69 will last much longer!"

"Well do something about it!" Came the reply, barking out orders to the rest of the team.

'_No!' _Mukuro thought. He couldn't die, not yet. He mustered up all his strength and tried to fight against the impending threat as best as he could. He put all his feelings in to survival. If he could make it through this, then he could return to his friends. Images of them flashed through his mind. Him, during the first meeting with Ken and Chikusa. The three of them meeting Nagi on the side of the road. There was Ken, and Chikusa and Nagi all laughing along beside him on his birthday. No way would he die now!

Gradually, the beeps sped up. It wasn't up to it's regular beat but at least it wasn't where it had been.

"S-sir! He's coming back, he's coming back!" A lackey called excitedly.

"What? Impossible!" The man sounded incredulous.

"B-but sir, he pulled through, it looks like the experiment will work!"

"Hmph." Was the only answer.

Kiri didn't know exactly what they were talking about but it seemed as if he was in the OK zone for now. But his sort-of-happy thoughts were abruptly interrupted when he felt his right eye exploded in agony.

It was his first scream during this experiment. He had held in all the previous ones, but he couldn't help but let this one out. The scream filled the entire room, bouncing off the walls and back to where Kiri and the scientists were.

When some of the men came over to look at him, they grinned, their eyes glowing with a mad light.

"Sir! The experiment is a success! His eye, it's glowing!"

"Good." The lead scientist walked up beside the table to take a look. He himself smiled. "Perfect, the boss will be happy."

Kiri, still not understanding their "scientist talk", tried to block out the aches that came from his right eye. He panted, misery wracking his body. Oozora was right; this was hell! The throbbing from his eye didn't let up and he was aware that his heart was failing him again. This time though, it was inevitable. He felt the world slowly fade away to black. But before everything had slipped from his sight, he heard the head scientist speak directly towards him.

The smile was evident in his voice and he opened his mouth to speak. "Good luck in Hell."

* * *

Tsuna's worries left him like the wind as footsteps sounding from the hall. He peered through the bars to try to catch a glimpse of who was coming. It was Kiri! He rushed to over to tell the others the news that Kiri was coming back.

"Everyone, he's back, he's back!" Tsuna called excitedly.

"Really?!" Came the replies as each of them jumped up and raced the door.

"Un!" But then Tsuna stopped. "Bu-but he was with another person." Tsuna gestured with his hands, "He was lying like this on the man's shoulders."

"Is that good or bad, byon?" Dobutsu asked.

"I-I don't know." Tsuna responded unsurely.

Their conversation was cut off when the door was opened with one hand. The other hand appeared to be carrying Kiri by his shirt. Uncaringly, he tossed him in like a ragdoll where he lay on the floor, unmoving.

The 4 clustered around their friend in soon as the man had left.

"K-Kiri?" Tsuna was the first to speak, inching closer hesitantly.

There was no response.

Scared, Tsuna shook the teen to see if he was OK. But, the second he touched him Tsuna recoiled.

Kiri was deathly cold. His blue eyes were open but glassy, no light shined through them. Strangely, his right eye was glowing a faint red. His mouth was hanging slightly ajar and his head was tilted at an odd angle.

Fearfully, the blond checked his friend for a pulse. There was nothing. No sign of life came from Kiri.

A variety of emotions passed through Tsuna but the one that stood out was something that he had never felt before: hatred. Those Estraneo scientists, how dare they do this to his first friend! Kiri was the first one who accepted him, he didn't see 'Dame-Tsuna,' he saw Oozora, the normal teenager with feelings just like everyone else.

Loathing boiled up within him but he pushed it down. No, he wouldn't let his feelings get ahead of himself, now was not the time. He had to focus on what the current problem was. He had to tell the rest the truth. They would be heartbroken—Kirisame, Kakipi, Dobutsu, but what other choice did he have?

Tsuna picked up Kiri's hand and held it tightly for comfort no matter how cold it was.

He slowly eased around and turned to face the rest. His eyes were wide in grief, pure anguish sparking through them. He opened his mouth and let out a hoarse whisper.

"He's dead."

* * *

**I think I'm going emo…**

**Yeah, I know you already know and all but I can't believe KHR is ending but then again, everything has to come to an end doesn't it? Although, maybe Amano Akira will make a sequel with Tsuna as the boss and even though he still doesn't want to be one. Or maybe she'll make a prequel and have it about Primo's generation. That would be cool but then we wouldn't get to see any tenth generation would we? *****Sigh***** If she ever comes out with a new manga, I hope it's good.  
**

**Avvaimento: Start- The 1st parallel world**

**Six Paths of Hell: The experiment that Kiri goes through. It is said to have a low success rate and is nearly impossible to survive.**

**Phew, what a long chapter, at least, longer than most.**

**Ken's shorthand is 14 so that's why he's called experiment 14. His username is Dobutsu, which is Japanese for animal.**

**Chikusa's shorthand is 49 so that's why he's called experiment 49. His username is Kakipi.**

**Sorry if Mukuro or anyone else was OOC, I believe Mukuro was but please don't forget that this is still when he's innocent, and not the sadistic pineapple he is now. That will come later.**

**I hope the little chat about family matters was OK. Tsuna's little speech about his parents will be necessary to future chapters.**

**When I had Mukuro/Kiri's little flashback during the experiment, the reason why I called his friends their real names was because he knew them as Ken, Chikusa and Nagi. He only calls them their usernames in the virtual world.**

**Questions about this chapter? I'll answer them as best as I can.**

**Reviews are appreciated.**

**This is Oozora no Hono, signing out. Ciao Ciao!**


	16. Chapter 13: From the Past to the Present

Chapter 13: From the Past to the Present Part 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

* * *

_World 1- Avvaimento_

_(Start)_

Tsuna huddled up in the corner of the cage miserably. Despite the scorching air that flowed through the bars, he shivered uncontrollably. Across from him, Kirisame was staring blankly at the color, completely zoned out. Dobutsu was crying loudly and Kakipi's face was void of any emotion.

Tsuna looked back at the still body that belonged to his friend. Together, Tsuna, Kirisame, Dobutsu, and Kakipi had gently moved the body into a more comfortable looking position. Then, they carefully carried him over to the wall and propped up against it.

'_Strange.'_ Tsuna thought, staring at Kiri's body, _'if someone dies, would they disappear and leave this place for Citta di Inizi or would they die and come back in the same place? Kiri is obviously dead but he hasn't come back yet. Unless… the experiment that the scientists performed on him… NO!'_ Tsuna shook his head to clear those dreaded thoughts away. Kiri couldn't be dead; there must be some way that has kept him here. _'Maybe he's in a state of death, that's why they brought him back. If he died, they would've thrown him away, right?'_

Finally, Tsuna looked away from Kiri and refocused on the tiny spot of blood on the floor. Without Kiri, they had nothing to do. Kiri would always think up something to do to spend time. But now, without him, they had fallen apart. No one was comforting each other and no one was attempting to speak to each other. Being the kind of person he was, Tsuna prepared himself to speak up. If Kiri wasn't here, Tsuna would take his place for now.

"So…umm." He started lamely. But, at least it caught their attention.

The three of them looked up from what they were doing and focused their attention on Tsuna.

"What?" Dobutsu snarled rudely. Although he tried to look angry, he failed utterly. His face had been stained with tears and his eyes were rimmed with red from crying.

Kakipi sighed. "Dobutsu let him speak. It's not like you have anything good to say do you?"

Dobutsu snorted but backed down, arms crossed and back turned.

"Go on, Oozora-kun." Kirisame encouraged quietly, staring at him with her two amethyst eyes.

"Uhm, what do you think Kiri would want us to do if he weren't here with us at the time?" Tsuan asked, nervously playing with his fingers.

All three of them shrugged.

"Well," Tsuna paused to collect his thoughts, "I don't think he'd want us to act like this." Tsuna spread his arms to gesture to the whole cage.

Kirisame looked down at the floor shamefully while Dobutsu scoffed.

"And uhh I—" Before Tsuna could continue, he was interrupted by a soft groan.

Immediately, 4 heads turned to the source, surprised. "Kiri?!"

The previously-thought-dead-Kiri opened his eyes and let out a large yawn. "Morning."

"Heeeh?" Dobutsu let out a disbelieving breath. "Bu-bu-but!" He blubbered until Kakipi stopped him.

"It's the afternoon I think."

"Oh, well good afternoon." When Kiri opened his left eye, Tsuna noticed that it seemed haunted, as if he experienced something that he shouldn't have. But then again, he must have experienced death, right?

"A-are you feeling okay?" Tsuna asked hesitantly, slowly walking up to Kiri's sitting figure.

"I'm fine." Kiri brushed him off and rubbed his right eye. "But my eye hurts."

"O-oh." Tsuna sat down next to his friend, not sure what to say, after all, he had been dead only a few seconds ago.

Suddenly, there was a gasp.

"Kirisame? What happened, what's wrong?" Tsuna jumped up, ready to do something.

"K-Kiri's e-eye…" Kirisame covered her mouth in horror.

When Tsuna peered at Kiri, he recoiled slightly. His right eye. It was a glowing red; the navy blue had completely disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a blood-red color. If you looked even closer, the kanji '1' floated in the middle where the iris should be.

"W-what? What's wrong?" Kiri stuttered, clueless, as he couldn't see himself.

"Y-you're eye." Kakipi stated, transfixed.

"What? It's red? What are you talking about, last time I checked it was blue." Kiri said incredulously, removing his hand from his face.

"Nope, it's red, byon." Dobutsu scooted closer to take a look.

"Huh, you're all just bluffing." Kiri laughed but something about his tone sounded like he believed every little word they said.

"Kiri…" Tsuna started but then trailed off when he saw the uneasy look on his friend's face.

"I-I think I'm going to take a nap." Kiri turned away from them and laid his head on his crossed arms, hiding his face from them.

"Oi! But you just woke up!" Dobutsu cried indignantly.

"Dobutsu, not now." Kakipi set a hand on Dobutsu's shoulder and shook his head.

"Hmph."

When they were all sure Kiri was asleep, the gathered together in the farthest possible corner.

"Why did it suddenly turn red?" Kirisame asked, looking at each of them with a frightened gaze. Tsuna petted her shoulder in an attempt to calm her nerves.

"I don't know but it was something to do with him dying then coming back."

"Yeah, those scientists probably did something to him in the lab, he must have gotten caught." Kakipi pushed up his broken glasses.

"Tch, how lame." Dobutsu sniffed but his face betrayed him, showing concern and anxiety.

"Well, let's let him rest for now ne?" Tsuna said, putting a finger to his mouth as a gesture to be quiet. "And, let's hope he is okay, he didn't seem very Kiri-ish."

"Yeah, I'll give him some of my next meal." Kakipi suggested.

"Ah! I-I will too." Kirisame blushed, avoiding their gazes.

"Okay, let's all do that and hope he gets better soon!" Tsuna smiled, clapping his hands together.

* * *

That same day, Dobutsu and Kakipi were lugged off to the experiments room in order to spare Kiri from the torture. When they came back, Kakipi's head was swathed in bandages and he had an even blanker look in his eyes than usual. Dobutsu had bandages running across his face and over his nose. When he tried to open his mouth to speak, his words came out with a lisp and two fangs flashed in the half-light.

Nervously, Tsuna went up to them for an inspection. "W-what did they do to you?"

Kakipi coughed, "You should know already."

"I got fangs, byon!" Dobutsu wailed, pointing to the two protruding teeth in his mouth. "Then they put sets of other teeth into my mouth! See?" Dobutsu held up a package of different teeth for them to see. "It turns me into a monster, byon!"

"What do you mean monster?" Kirisame spoke up curiously.

"I'll show you." Dobutsu picked a random set of teeth and stuck it in his mouth, almost immediately after, his appearance changed into that of a beast. He seemed like a cross between a wolf and a human and the head of a wolf materialized on his cheek. "See, byon?" Dobutsu's now silver hair puffed out like a mane and his clawed hands waved madly in the air.

"Ah, they did something to my eyes." Kakipi pulled off his glasses. "Now, without my glasses, I can see a whole lot better."

"R-really?" Tsuna said, holding his hands up and backing away from Dobutsu's looming figure. "I'm quite sure you can change back now, Dobutsu."

"Humph." He stuck his hand in his mouth and pulled out the teeth. Saliva dripped down to the floor.

"Eww Dobutsu, clean that up." Kirisame complained, pointing at the small puddle of saliva.

"Uruthay." Dobutsu tried to say 'shut up' but failed with his new lisp.

"Maa maa, let's think about something else for now, ne?" Tsuna suggested, drifting away from the previous topic or experiments.

"Oozora is right, guys, how about we play something to pass time." Kakipi added.

"Ah, or we can plan another escape." Tsuna said, after all, they did need some way to get out of this… place.

"I agree with Oozora-kun, we've been here too long." Kirisame sided with Tsuna.

"Fine." Kakipi sighed and settled down next to the pile of dirt and dust they hand collected. He took his finger and began to draw pictures. "From what I've seen of the guild, we are right here." Kakipi drew an 'X' in the middle of the makeshift drawing table. "The experiments are located down the hall to the left," He traced a long line off to the left of the board. "There should be at least 2 exits. First would be the one we entered with when they brought us here and then there should be a back door." Kakipi marked where he thought the entrance was. "Guards patrol the walkways every so often. I'm guessing that they pass our cage every ten minutes." He poked little dots around between the hallways. "So that leaves us the opportunity to escape between that period of time, which isn't very long. But before anything, we need a way to unlock the cage."

"Heh, I can do that with my new powers, byon." Dobutsu grinned, showing his teeth.

"Okay then we need an orderly way to escape. Oozora can go first because he's the smallest. Kirisame will go after Oozora and keep an eye out for anyone coming from behind. When the coast is clear, we—" Kakipi motioned to him, Dobutsu and the sleeping Kiri. "—Will come. The exit shouldn't be too far from where we are so if we stay silent and move quickly, I believe we can make it. We'll worry about the other prisoners after we escape and get Admins or the higher ups to take care of them."

"That sounds good." Kirisame twirled her long hair with one finger, staring at the design of the building. "But if we want to get out efficiently, one of us or all of us have to memorize the layout of this place. If we wander around aimlessly, we'll never make it out."

Tsuna looked up. "I'll try to do it, I'm not that good with studying or memorizing stuff but I have a feeling that I can do it."

"That's great Oozora-kun." Kirisame smiled at him then turned to the others. "We should have one more person just in case."

"I can do it."

The four of them turned to the source of the voice.

"Are you sure Kiri?" Tsuna asked, looking at his friend in worry.

"Of course I can." He retorted, standing up and moving to where they were gathered. "The rest of you should focus on something else, like attacking if we get caught."

"Oh! I never thought about that." Kakipi exclaimed flatly. He slipped off his glasses. "I'll be the one to watch for anyone coming, after all, they improved my vision."

"I'm attacking, byon." Dobutsu smiled sinisterly, whipping out his package of teeth.

"I-I don't know what I'll do…" Kirisame voiced quietly, ducking her head in embarrassment.

"Don't worry my dear Kirisame." Kiri smiled tenderly at her, "Just follow us and you'll be fine."

"H-hai."

"Then what can I do?" Tsuna pointed questioningly at himself. Of course, he'd still memorize the escape route because something in his mind told him to. But otherwise, he didn't have anything to do.

"You can help Dobutsu attack." Kiri stated as if it were the end of the conversation.

"Bu-but I don't think I can fight." Tsuna said nervously poking two fingers together.

"Just do it." Kiri's red eye seemed to flash dangerously causing Tsuna to flinch involuntarily. Noticing the movement, Kiri softened visibly. "Ah, but you could also help me lead the way out."

"O-okay." Tsuna squeaked, breaking his gaze from Kiri's mismatched eyes.

"So, everything's settled, now we only need a day to carry out our plan."

* * *

The next day, Kiri was forced to go through another test. When he came back, he returned with two scientists who were grinning wildly. Between the two of them, they were carrying Kiri who was hanging limply in their grip.

"Oi! What did you do to Kiri?" Dobutsu ran up, ready to fight, his eyes shining with hostility.

"Nothing much." One of them smiled creepily. "We killed him. But don't worry, he'll return from Hell soon."

They threw Kiri back in then stared the kids down. "I say we take the fluffy haired blondie." The one who spoke before murmured to his partner.

"No no, he's the Deathperation experiment #27, take the girl, she hasn't been tested yet. We should try her with The Six Paths of Hell, if one worked, why not begin another?"

"OK, sounds good. Grab her please and I'll close the door."

One of them entered the cage, shooing off the friends from the quiet purple-haired girl. He cornered her in the midst of holding up a gun to the others, threatening to shoot if they came any closer.

Kirisame's eyes were wide in fear as she stared up at the scientist. Her body was shivering uncontrollably and her limbs weren't obeying her commands to move.

"Stop!" Tsuna launched himself in front of Kirisame, carefully avoiding the point of the gun. "I'll do it, just let her go."

"Oh? Rebellious one are you? Hmm, I like that. I'll go by your wishes for today." The man picked up Tsuna by one arm and glared at the rest of them, backing out of the cage slowly. Once he was safe, the bars slammed shut once again.

"Now, 27, we'll be continuing the Deathperation experiment on you. It's half complete as of now. Once you get through today, you'll be complete!" The man chattered excitedly.

Tsuna stayed silent, and tried to appear nonchalant about it. At least Kirisame had been spared for the day.

He was returned to the bloodstained table and locked in place. This time, an orange vial of liquid greeted him in the face. Oh how lovely.

One scientist pried open his mouth while the other poured the fluid down his throat. As usual, it burned as if it were liquid fire. As a reflex, he felt his throat convulse consecutively but the scientists forced his mouth shut so all the liquid went down. When they were sure it was, they let go of their death grip and released the poor boy, letting him take in deep breaths of much-needed air.

This time, the pain coursed through his body, roaring through his veins like a rollercoaster. As soon as his whole body went numb from the unbearable pain, his sight flashed a bright yellow, blinding him for a good few minutes. When he could see again, everything had an orange glow to it. The scientists, the walls, even Tsuna himself! That was when he caught a good glimpse of him in a small mirror on the wall.

He screamed.

His forehead had erupted in flames and his eyes—they seemed to blaze a pure orange. Then, when he made the slightest twitch of a limb, orange flames spewed from his palms. When he finally calmed down, he noticed that the fire didn't seem to burn him. Only his hands when the fire was ejected.

"Ahaha! It worked, I can't believe it worked!" One scientist exclaimed happily clapping his hands.

"Yes! I can't wait to tell boss, Experiment: Deathperation is a success!"

* * *

After Oozora had left, Dobutsu and Kakipi comforted Kirisame, assuring her that he would be OK. Suddenly, there was movement from the middle of the cage. They all turned their attention to the cause. Each of them looked expectantly at their newly awoken friend.

When Kiri reopened his eyes, blinking off death, in his right eye, sitting in the middle of a pool or red, shone the kanji '2'.

* * *

Mini Thanksgiving Omake!

**Please note that this omake has nothing to do with the original plotline.**

_World 22: Ringraziamento_

_(Thanksgiving)_

Tsuna opened his eyes to the smell of turkey. He had just entered the game and was going to meet up with his friends to celebrate the day of thanks, Thanksgiving. He worked his way through he throng of people until he made it to a little restaurant.

"Oh, it looks like I'm the last to arrive, huh?" Tsuna scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"No worries Juudaime, I just arrived too!" Gokudera appeared in front of him complete with the doggy ears and tail.

"Yeah Tsuna, we weren't waiting too long at all!" Yamamoto smiled, throwing an arm around his friend's shoulders.

"Oh, OK." Tsuna smiled at each of his guardians.

"Let's eat to the EXTREME!" Ryohei was the first to enter the restaurant, throwing the doors open in excitement.

"Gyahahaihai, Lambo-san will steal all your food!" Lambo was next to follow, dashing through the doors.

"Come now, my dear Chrome, we shouldn't keep the others waiting." Mukuro ushered Chrome inside.

"Let's go guys." Tsuna walked in, followed by his loyal friends, Gokudera and Yamamoto.

And last, Hibari slinked into the room, hating to be crowding so much with weak herbivores.

Once inside, they were sat down by a waiter and given menus. For a while they stared in silence. Slowly, each of them broke out in laughter, sans Hibari.

"Kufufu, what is this? Did they give us the wrong menu?" Mukuro tore the piece of paper in half, a vein pulsing in his head.

"EXTREME!" Was all that Ryohei said, accidentally crumpling the sheet in his hands.

"Lambo-san doesn't want turkey, Lambo-san wants candy!" The little cow-boy complained, throwing his menu to the floor.

Tsuna's mouth twitched. "I-I guess I'll have turkey then."

"OK, is that all, sir?"

"Hiie!" Tsuna jumped then whirled around in surprise.

Behind him stood a waiter, scribbling down the order.

"Ah yes, that's all."

"Alright, thank you. And how about you?" The waiter turned to Tsuna's right, asking the scowling Gokudera.

"What other choice do I have?" He scoffed.

"I'll take that as a turkey. And you sir?"

"Candy." Lambo deadpanned.

"OK, thank you, turkey it is. Next?"

"TURKEY TO THE EXTREME!" Ryohei shouted, slamming his fist on to the table, effectively leaving a large crack.

"Alright, next?"

"We'll both have turkey please." Chrome said politely, pointing to both her and Mukuro.

"And you sir?"

Yamamoto laughed. "I'll have turkey."

"Thank you." The waiter continued to scribble away at the pad of paper. Then he turned to the last person, Hibari. "And you?"

"I'll bite you to death for making this outrageous menu." Hibari's red eyes flashed dangerously and his steel tonfas appeared in his hands.

"Right, turkey, good choice. It's highly recommended. Is that all?"

Tsuna nodded quickly.

"Alright, your meals will be out shortly." The waiter pocketed the pad of paper and his pen then walked off to the kitchen.

* * *

When the waiter came back, he brought 8 plates of turkey. "Here are your orders. Feel free to ask me if you need anything. Enjoy."

"Thank you." Tsuna nodded his head graciously. He picked up his chopsticks and snapped them in half. "Itadakimasu!"

Each of them dug in to their plates of food, cutting open the mini turkeys that lay on their plates.

"Oi, what is this crap?" Gokudera immediately sniffed, picking through the insides of his food. "It looks like octopus!"

"Hey! I have baseballs in my food, that's cool!" Yamamoto exclaimed, holding up a edible ball with the appearance of a baseball.

"Gyahaha! Lambo-san got candy!" Lambo was shoveling various colored sweets into his mouth then spitting them out almost as quickly. "Blegh. They taste like turkey."

"EXTREME boxing!" Ryohei was munching on what looked like a boxing glove. "It's extremely tasty, you should try it Sawada." He waved a half-eaten boxing glove in front of Tsuna's face.

"E-eto, no thanks Onii-san. I think I'll pass."

"Oya oya, what's this?" Mukuro held up a small pineapple in his chopsticks.

"It's obviously a pineapple, Pineapple-head!" Gokudera snarled rudely, jabbing his octopus at Mukuro's face.

"What did you just call me?" A new vein pulsed in Mukuro's forehead. In his hand, his trident materialized.

"I-I have pineapples too, Mukuro-sama. But it tastes like turkey" Chrome spoke up, breaking up the beginnings of a fight.

"Oya oya, do you? That's not nice. Whoever made this I demand they take it back right away."

"Urusai, your chattering is annoying." Hibari snapped, his mouth opening to eat a bunch of lettuce and other greens.

Tsuna sweat dropped at all their varying food appearances, especially Hibari's food. Was it only vegetables on purpose? Then, when he looked down to inspect his own, what he saw shocked him. Inside his food sat a mini-Reborn.

"Ciaossu!"

"Hiiiee!"

* * *

When each of them had finished their respective food, they contentedly placed their chopsticks on their plates and sat back to relax.

"That was an EXTREME meal."

"Hmph, I think it was lame." Gokudera shoved his plate further into the table and leaned back in his chair.

"Hey, I know, how about we say what we are thankful for now?" Yamamoto piped up, putting his hands behind his head. "I'm thankful for my friends, baseball, and my Oyajii.

"Gyahaha, Lambo-san is thankful for candy!"

"I am EXTREMELY grateful for Kyoko and boxing!"

"Tch. I'm thankful for meeting Juudaime and nothing else."

"I-I'm thankful for meeting Bossu again and being able to play freely within this game." Chrome whispered, avoiding the gazes on her.

Mukuro petted her head in comfort. "Kufufufu. I'm thankful for meeting Tsunayoshi again and being able to destroy the Estraneo."

"Hn. Nothing in particular."

When all of his guardians had finished speaking, Tsuna spread his mouth to form a radiant smile. He took a deep breath before sharing what he was thankful for. "Minna, thanks for being there for me when I need you. And most of all, thanks for being my friends."

* * *

**Avvaimento: Start- the 1****st**** world**

**Ringraziamento: Thanksgiving- the 22****nd**** world**

**Itadakimasu: Let's eat**

**Oyajii: Old man- what Yamamoto calls his dad.**

**Hey minna! Long time no see huh? Sorry for the late update, I was slightly busy. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter. This will be the second to last chapter of the flashback side arc. The next one will be the last and then it will go back to the main story line. Oh yes, this chapter hasn't been edited so if there are any mistakes, could you point them out for me? I'll make sure to correct them right away. And my updates might not be as frequent as they used to be. But, I'll try to get them out on time.**

**Can anyone guess what was on the menu in the Omake? :D**

**I have a poll up on my profile for SFM so check it out!**

**Next Time: Escape!**

**PS: Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it! Don't forget to review!**


	17. Chapter 14: From the Past to the Present

Chapter 14: From the Past to the Present part 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

* * *

_World 1- Avvaimento_

_(Start)_

When Tsuna was returned to his cage, he was exhausted. He could barely move his limbs and had trouble breathing. His friends, noticing his state, rushed over to help him.

"Oozora-kun, are you okay?" Kirisame asked quietly, her voice showing layers of concern.

"I'm fine, Kirisame." Tsuna winced, flopping down to the floor in a tired heap.

"Doesn't look like it, byon." Dobutsu sniffed, sticking out his tongue. "You could at least tell the truth."

"Leave him alone, Dobutsu." Kakipi shoved his glasses up with one finger, glancing over to the side to look at Dobutsu. "I'm sure he has his reasons."

"It's OK Kakipi, seriously." Tsuna rubbed his burnt hands, tenderly placing them together to cool them down. "I think I'm used to the pain by now."

From the shadows of the cage, a voice spoke up. "Oozora, can you come here for a moment? I need to show you something."

"Eh? What is it Kiri?" Tsuna crawled over to Kiri with some difficulty but finally plopped himself down beside him.

Kiri put a finger to his lips, "Shh, make sure no one can see and be quiet."

Tsuna nodded dumbly. This must be important. He shifted slightly to block the others' view. "So, what is it?"

Kiri glanced around, his red eye glowing. "Ready? Watch this." Kiri focused on a tiny spot on the floor with all his might. His right eye flashed and swiveled to the kanji '1'. With a start, Tsuna realized that Kiri's eye had gained a new number while he was absent.

'_Something's going on with Kiri._' Tsuna thought,_ 'and it must have to do with his deaths.'_

"Oozora, are you paying attention?" Kiri hissed quietly, annoyance flashing in his gaze.

Tsuna jumped, ashamedly. He ducked his head, uttering a small peep. "No?"

Kiri sighed. "Well, please just for now, can you watch?"

Tsuna immediately picked up the hidden plea in Kiri's voice. There was something about his tone that gave Tsuna an uncomfortable feeling. "I'm watching."

"OK, now, you don't see anything do you?"

"No."

"Good, now pay close attention."

Again, Kiri focused on a small section of the steel floor. For a few seconds, nothing happened. But then, with a small 'pop!,' a freshly plucked leaf appeared from nowhere.

"Gah!" Tsuna jumped, "I-it…"

"It what?"

"It materialized out of nothing!"

"Of course it did, baka. Why do you think I told you to pay close attention?" Kiri rolled his eyes in slight annoyance.

"B-but that doesn't just happen!"

"Yes it does, in this world at least. Now, listen to me." Kiri flicked the leaf so it twirled lazily until it settled to the floor. He swished his finger slightly and it disappeared.

Tsuna found it hard to stifle his gasp.

"It's an illusion." Kiri started, choosing his words carefully. "A trick of the mind. I can make them appear out of my own free will." He paused to let Tsuna absorb the information. "But, I can only do it when I do something weird with my eye but I'm not quite sure what I have to do."

Tsuna nodded his head. "Umm, when you made the leaf appear, your eye, it went from two to one."

"My eye did what?"

"It went from the kanji '2' to '1'." Tsuna repeated. "When you came back, your eye changed and it's red now, instead of blue. I suppose no one ever told you?"

Kiri shook his head. "No."

"Well, I just told you. So now you know."

Kiri looked back up and looked at him square in the eyes. "Do you know why I'm showing this to you?"

"No."

"It's because if we plan to escape, I sure my illusions can help. If I trick the scientists and guards, I'm sure we can make it past security. But don't tell the others just yet. I only chose to tell you because I thought you'd understand."

Tsuna gave his friend a comforting smile. "Don't think of you new powers as strange, Kiri. Everyone has their own differences and they are all good in their own way."

Kiri gave him a weird look at that statement, frowning then glancing away. "So, what about you? I'm sure they have done stuff to you too."

Tsuna shifted uncomfortable under Kiri's scrutinizing gaze. "I umm…uh… have fire?"

"Elaborate please." Kiri gave him an irritated look.

"Hey, I don't know how to explain it well. Maybe I should just show you." Tsuna concentrated, pushing lingering heat to his hands. When he opened his eyes, nothing had happened.

"Huh? That's strange, it should have come out." Tsuna stared at his hands quizzically.

"What should have come out?"

"Fire." Tsuna stated simply, giving his hands a thorough check. "Well, at least some came out during the experiment."

"Oh. Well, don't burn yourself."

"I already did." Tsuna retorted giving him a dry look. "I'm sure you've already noticed.

Kiri laughed. "Of course I did."

Tsuna "humphed" indignantly. "Anyways, you should practice your illusionary skills now, Kakipi says we're carrying out our escapade tonight."

"Hai, hai Boss!" Kiri mimicked a salute and set his face into a mock stern look.

Tsuna nudged him playfully. "Urusai, now hurry up, we only have a few hours left."

"I'm on it."

As soon as Tsuna turned away, he met face-to-face with a giant spider with hungry red eyes. He shrieked.

Suddenly, the spider disappeared into the air and laughter rang out through the cage. "That was hilarious! You should have seen your face!" Kiri had one hand over his belly and the other wiping the tears away from his eyes.

"I'm going to get you for that!"

* * *

"OK Dobutsu, can you use your claws to get us out?" Kakipi asked, pushing up his glasses nervously.

"I've got it, byon." Dobutsu flexed his paw-like hand. He had put in a set of teeth that made him transform into a man-like cheetah. He used one claw to pick away at the lock holding the metal bars together.

It opened with a click.

"Here we go, byon" Dobutsu pushed the door open without a sound and crept out, morphing back into a human.

"Oozora, you go next." Kakipi ordered, filing them out one-by-one.

Tsuna nodded and slipped in front of Dobutsu, before he knew it, they were all out and Kiri was leading the way through the maze of halls and paths. This was it!

"Shh!" Kirisame hissed, putting a finger to her lips and giving them a silent look telling them that someone was coming.

"Hide!" Kakipi commanded, swiveling his head around to look for cover.

Kiri jerked his head to the side as an order to follow him. Obediently, they did and he led them to a large box where them hid behind it. Kiri smirked at Tsuna. It was an illusion.

When the voices of the guards passed, Kiri led the way out and dispersed the illusion without any of them seeing. They continued on without many incidents. Soon, the exit was in sight. Light leaked from the cracks and fresh air flowed in, its scent wafting into their noses. Excited, they began to run quicker, forgetting about the dangers they could encounter and promptly got themselves caught.

"Hey! What are you doing out of your cage?" A man started to run for them, holding up a large piece of wood to shoo them back.

"They found us, byon!" Dobutsu shouted, casting a worried glance over his shoulder. "Should I attack?"

"No, keep running, we're close to the exit now. If we can just make it out and find someone, we'll be safe!" Kakipi shouted back, panting slightly.

Tsuna felt his heart pounding in his chest. Whether it was from the straining run or the incoming danger, he didn't know. But, something told him that none of them would make it without the other sacrificing themselves.

Behind him, Kirisame was already slowing down considerably. Her amethyst eyes were showing exhaustion and her breaths were coming in deep, heavy gasps. Tsuna immediately took action and began to slow down himself to help her. But, before he reached her, Kiri blocked him off and gave him a look.

"I'll take care of her. You go on ahead and open the door for us."

Tsuna nodded his head and picked up the pace, his adrenaline coursing through his veins. Seconds seemed like hours as he neared the exit. Finally, he grabbed the handle and pulled… only to have it jerk back at him. It was locked.

Kakipi came up beside him. "Quick, what's wrong?"

"It's locked!" Came the frustrated reply. Tsuna tugged and pulled at the door but to no avail.

"Dobutsu! Come and help!" They both turned around but were greeted by the sight of a captured Dobutsu and Kirisame and a struggling Kiri.

"Go!" Kiri cried but his eyes betraying his voice as they glistened with fear.

"No, I won't leave you behind!" Kakipi shook his head furiously; his glasses sliding down his nose.

Tsuna looked back and forth between the two. They had to get out. And together. Pulling on Kakipi's arm, Tsuna stood on his toes to talk to him. "Listen, I have a plan, it may not be good but it'll have to do for now."

Kakipi nodded his head in conformation. "Alright, make it short."

The reinforcements were already advancing on them, holding tranquilizers and their own respective weapons.

Keeping a wary eye on their attackers, Tsuna pulled away from Kakipi. "Let's go."

Kakipi ran off, heading straight for the crowd of guards. His glasses had completely slid off, showing his eyes with their enhanced sight. With improved vision, Tsuna had thought that it would be easy for him to get around all the men. Now, it was his turn.

Tsuna spun around to face the door again. This time, it had to work; it was for Kiri and the rest. His first friends. He let out a deep breath and concentrated. He channeled his feelings from the deepest parts of his heart and into his hands. He had to save those he held dear to him. That was his resolve.

Sunset orange flames shimmered and enveloped his hands in a warm glow. They were different from the ones that had come out during the experiment. They didn't seem to burn him. At least, not yet. He felt another flame flicker atop his forehead, billowing slightly and brushing his hair. _'Yosh, here goes!' _

Tsuna pressed his hands to the metal door. Almost immediately, his hands sunk through, leaving hand-like imprints. It worked. Again, he melted the metal until it was a hot liquid, dripping down in a steaming mass.

Light. Was the first thing that registered in his mind. He peered through the hole in wonder but stopped himself. _'No! Now is not the time, focus Tsuna, focus!'_ He reprimanded himself, moving to another spot to make the hole bigger. Finally, after some work, the opening was big enough to let someone slip through with ease.

Tsuna felt his flames fizzle away and he fell down into an exhausted heap. But, he couldn't rest now. He turned back to see how Kakipi was managing things.

He had miraculously knocked out a few men and already had Kiri backing him up. They were aiming to get Kirisame and Dobutsu out of the enemies' grasp. So far, despite having only two people against fifteen, it looked like they had the upper hand.

Kiri was tricking them with illusions, using vines to trip them or angry dogs to scare them. Kakipi was landing punches to soft spots, namely the place where-the-sun-doesn't-shine. But still, it looked like a certain blond could make his appearance.

Right before, he was about to step in, amused clapping resounded through the room. "I commend you children for being able to make it this far."

From the shadows stepped a man dressed in black from head to toe. _'Achille.'_ Tsuna thought bitterly, _'the mastermind behind this all.' _

"What do you want?" Kiri snarled, his right eye glowing ominously.

"My, my. Such a feisty one aren't you, Experiment 69?"

Kiri recoiled at his given name. "Don't call me that! That's not my name!"

"Oh but it is now." Achille laughed, "After all, I don't plan on having you escape." From under his coat, he slid out a long, sleek, coal-black dagger. He brought it up to his eyes and looked at his reflection.

"It always amuses me to see a… subject… in pain. Their eyes show pure fear, their faces twisted in horror. I love it! I control their lives. With just a simple order, I can end their life. But I can also give them greater power. Isn't that right, 69?"

Kiri gave a deep, guttural growl. "I am not your pawn to dispose of."

"Oh, but you don't get it do you? You've died twice already, haven't you?"

Kiri flinched, a haunted look on his face.

"Ah, looks like I hit the spot." Achille smirked. "Now tell me, what was Hell like?"

Tsuna gasped. Yes, he already knew that Kiri had died. But how could he have gone through Hell? Kiri was the nicest person he had ever met! Other than Kirisame that is. But she could be scary when she wanted to.

Kiri glared at Achille defiantly. "Don't order me around like that."

"Hmm, if you say so. But it's only a matter of time before you break and bend to my will. Now, let's get started shall we?" Achille's eyes gleamed in the dim light. His dagger flashed dangerously and before you knew it, he was on top of Kiri, his dagger poised for attack.

"Kiri!" Tsuna screamed, rushing over to help his friend.

"No! Stay away!" Kiri glared threateningly at him to keep him away. "Don't come any closer, escape while you can and get help!"

"Bu-but—!" Tsuna whimpered helplessly.

"Go! We're counting on you!"

"Wait! At least tell me your names, your real names." Tsuna pleaded, facing each of them with a mourning gaze.

"Kakimoto Chikusa." Kakipi said. He had been caught by the guards and was held down by three men.

"Tch." Dobutsu snorted but he answered. "Joshima Ken."

"A-ah, Nagi, just Nagi." Kirisame gave him a sad look, almost resigned at the same time.

"I'm Rokudo Mukuro." Mukuro stared at Tsuna for a second before looking down. "Don't forget about us."

Tsuna slowly turned to Kiri and gave him a fleeting stare. "Of course I won't who do you think I am? Someone who betrays his friends?"

"Aww, how cute, now, let's get on with the movie shall we? Someone grab 27 before he escapes, he's a vital experiment and we can't afford to lose him. He after all, has the Sky Flames." Achille rudely interrupted, glaring at the men to get a move on.

Some guards madly scrambled around and headed Tsuna's way.

Tsuna closed his eyes and felt a complete calmness overtake him. Flames billowed from his hands and he used the to propel him back to the door. But, before he could taste freedom, he stopped himself and spun around.

His eyes twinkled with something that Kiri couldn't make out but he could tell that he could trust him into setting them free at some point. Mukuro looked over to his friend, trying to memorize all his features so when they came across each other again, he would recognize the boy right away.

"Oops." Oozora scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

Brief irritation flashed through Mukuro, escape already!

"I forgot to give you my name."

Mukuro paused in his thoughts and pulled his head up to look once more at Oozora.

Oozora smiled, the first full smile that Mukuro had ever seen him give. It was pure and soothing, just like the sky. "I go by Tsunayoshi… Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Defeated, Mukuro looked at his captor with crushed eyes. Oozora—Tsunayoshi—was gone.

"Oops, looks like he escaped." Achille pulled the corners of his mouth into a fake frown. "Oh, well. We can always make do with you." Mercilessly, he jerked the dagger out of Mukuro's chest and watched to blood sluggishly drip down the blade. The frown slowly crept up into a leering smile, as if provoking Mukuro to step out of line. Mukuro fell to the floor, feeling his life seep away from him, cunningly slipping through his fingertips.

The next look that Achille gave him sent shivers down into his very soul.

"Next stop: Hell."

* * *

Tsuna had been flying for hours now. His flames had powered him giving him the power to sail through the sky. But, it was tiring and he was running low on strength.

He had escaped but at a great cost. He had left his only friends behind. Kiri, Kirisame, Dobutsu, and Kakipi. _'No.' _He corrected himself_. 'Mukuro, Nagi, Ken, and Chikusa.' _

His final strength leaving him, he landed in the middle of a forest to rest. He settled in the upper parts of a tree and slid into the crook of a branch where he closed his eyes in exhaustion.

His last thoughts he could muster before succumbing to endless sleep were that he would rescue his friends, not matter what. It was a promise that he would never break.

He would save them with his Dying Will!

* * *

**Avvaimento: Start- the 1st world**

**This was the last part of the mini flashback series. I do hope you remembered Achille. But if you forgot, he's the Estraneo Guild's boss. The poll on my profile will be closing soon, maybe sometime after the next chapter comes out. Don't forget to vote if you haven't done so yet. **

**If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me, I'll try my best to answer them as soon as possible.**

**So… Tell me your thoughts about this chapter.**

**Ciao Ciao!**


	18. SFM Special: Christmas Omake

Sette Fiamme Mondiale: Christmas Omake

**A/N: Readers, I should let you know that although this is an omake, this is related to the plot but is a few timeskips ahead.**

**Ok, I know some of you don't celebrate Christmas but you can still read this. Just for fun, hmm?**

* * *

Christmas was not celebrated in Japan. In fact, it was not widely known. Nor was the fact that it was known much in any other country other than the U.S. But, Sette Fiamme Mondiale was a worldwide game, played all over the world, from the United States to Japan, from Italy to Spain. Also meaning that holidays and cultural influences were spread to different countries within a matter of weeks.

It was December in Japan. More specifically December 25th. If you go even further into detail, it was 00:00 on December 25th in Namimori, Japan. Currently, the whole town was asleep… apart from a certain household called the Sawada Residence.

"Hiiee!" It's Christmas, I completely forgot!" A sudden shriek could be heard exactly at 00:01. There were a few thumps, a bang, and a cry of pain before silence.

* * *

_World 32- __Felicità_

_(Joy)_

Tsuna opened his eyes to the virtual world of SFM. He rubbed his eyes tiredly then trudged over to the nearest bench and sat down. He was probably early so he might as well take a small nap while he waited. Or…

He sat up with a jolt. Presents! Of course, it had completely slipped his mind. He did have time—plenty of it actually—but it was also a matter of thinking about the perfect thing to buy his friends that make it harder. Presents didn't necessarily have to be expensive to make a person happy, it was how heart-felt the present was. And _that_ was the hardest part.

Of course if someone is your friend, then it shouldn't be a problem thinking up something to give them. Ii fact, you should be able to find something right away and say: "perfect!"

But for certain people—that wasn't the case. You could say that they over-thought it, that you shouldn't spend hours mulling over something so trivial. But sometimes that was good, instead of looking at what's straight ahead, you think of possibilities and decide what's best.

That's what a real friend would be like, and Tsuna hoped that he was that kind of friend.

First off, Gokudera. He liked bows and arrows, not to mention dynamite, but outside of the game, he liked UMAs… whatever that was.

Second was Yamamoto. Baseball no doubt and then swords but he also like milk and sushi. He would have to think a little more on this one.

Lambo could or could not be happy with anything. Candy was an obvious choice and maybe a new set of grenades. But, what would he think of a new hairstyle? Currently, his hair was a rat's nest—a mix or curls and waves. To top it off, he didn't even comb it—not that it mattered in the game.

Hibari was kind of like a jigsaw puzzle. But due to some serious observation *cough* stalking *cough*, Tsuna knew that he had a soft spot for tiny animals.

Mukuro could use a Pineapple hat. Those were easy to find in the right stores. Maybe he could even get Chrome a matching one. Chrome probably wouldn't mind it being a pineapple and all. But Mukuro… ok, scratch that. Magic tricks?

Lastly, Ryohei loved boxing. Something to do with boxing would be nice. But could something else work? He was very open-minded so anything could work right?

"Rragh!" Tsuna pulled on his hair in frustration. There was no way he'd remember all of this!

He stood up and wandered over to the nearest store and walked in. The sight of thousands of weapons greeted him. He immediately gravitated to the row of swords that sat innocently on the shelves. Slowly, he fingered the blades, sliding his fingers over the smooth metal. As he walked down the aisle, his attention suddenly slipped upwards to a picture on the wall.

He had seen the picture many times, of course. It was a photo that store owners usually hung wherever they sold swords. The reason? Because it was he first generation's weapons: Asari Ugetsu's Four Irregular Swords, one long blade and three short swords.

A thought struck him. He whipped around and raced out the door to the nearest teleporter. He tapped on the panel that was located on the large stone column and brought up his destination: World 17. His body pixilated and the disappeared with a flash.

* * *

_World 17- Percorso di Luce_

_(Path of Light)_

He stepped off the stone platform. He had arrived in Città di Inizi or World 17. If his memory served him correctly, this should be the right world. But the only problem was that he didn't know how he ended up at that store. It was possible that he could just get Bonifacio to make something but the old man from that time…

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Dame-Tsuna. What are you doing here?"

Tsuna froze then stiffly turned around.

"Mochida." Tsuna nodded.

"Hey, I asked you a question and I expect you to answer!" Mochida snarled, his grey eyes narrowed menacingly.

"It's none of your business." Tsuna returned evenly. Inside, though, his heart was racing and his stomach did nervous flip-flops.

"Hmph, acting all high and mighty now are we?" Mochida rested a hand on his sword that rested against his hip. "What do you say? A duel?"

"Sorry, but I've got a lot to do. Another time perhaps." Tsuna turned around and started to walk away, only to be unceremoniously jerked back by his collar.

"Where's the Puppy Dog, Dame-Tsuna? Has he finally realized how much of a loser you are?"

"Don't you dare insult Gokudera-kun like that! He hasn't deserted me, he's just not online right now!" Tsuna growled, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"Woah woah now, looks like I hit a tender spot." Mochida smiled, "say, if you beat me in a duel, I'll stop making fun of you and your pathetic followers. But if I win, you get to serve under me for the rest of your life in this game."

Tsuna felt his eye twitch at the mention of "pathetic followers." How dare he make fun of them like that! "Deal."

Mochida's face broke into a wide grin. "Meet you at the battle grounds."

Tsuna watched as his tormenter disappeared. Now that he accepted the duel, his time would get cut down immensely. He'd have to make it quick. Not that it should take any more than a minute.

* * *

_Start!_

The buzzer sounded loudly and Tsuna fell into an attacking stance.

Mochida immediately rushed forward, his sword angled to his side. His attack left his whole body open for a counter.

As soon as his opponent drew close enough, Tsuna put a burst of speed into his dash, and appeared behind the swordsman. He let one of his daggers slide down his arm and into his hand.

Immediately, Mochida stopped. A sharp blade was held to his throat and a tiny bead of blood was slowly dripping down the sharp steel. He gulped.

"Merry Christmas, Mochida." Tsuna whispered in his ear.

"I-I surrender."

_Winner: Oozora_

The screen flashed and colorful lights congratulated him.

Looking up, Tsuna put his winnings in his inventory and walked away from the battle site.

"I'm on a tight schedule, I expect to hear good from you, welcome to the Vongola."

Mochida could only stare blankly at where the blond had disappeared into the slowly growing crowd.

* * *

Tsuna glanced at the sky. The Sun was already rising, sending orange and red streaks through the dark blue. He had about thirty minutes before the given time.

He ran through the maze of streets, looking for an old, run-down shop. He tried to remember how he stumbled upon the store but it never came to him. Tsuna sighed, twenty more minutes.

"Ohoho, I decide to take a nice little stroll and what do I find?"

Tsuna jumped. That voice!

"I told you we would meet again, didn't I young man?"

"Mister!" Tsuna's eyes widened. Was it luck or a coincidence?

"I take it that you've been looking for me?" The old man smiled, his almost toothless mouth showing.

"U-un!"

"Hmm, very well then. Follow me." The old man led Tsuna through a confusing pathway of twists and turns. Eventually, they arrived at the old equipment shop.

"So young man, what are you looking for?"

"Umm, gifts for my friends."

"I see, do you by chance have any pictures for me to look at?"

Tsuna looked up and took in the purple cloth that covered the man's eyes. "If you don't mind me asking but can you see?"

The man cackled loudly, making Tsuna cringe. "I don't need eyes to see, young man."

Clueless, Tsuna brought up screenshots of him and his friends together.

"Hmm, I have the perfect things for them. And you too, don't expect me to leave you out." The shopkeeper disappeared and Tsuna was left, tapping his foot against to floor of the shop.

After what seemed like several hours, Tsuna finally noticed the withered old hands of the storeowner appear with a loud full of items. Correction: large pieces of stone.

"Here you go laddie, this is for them and you."

"E-eto, how do I know which one is which?"_ 'They all look the same!' _Tsuna added in his thoughts.

"Don't worry my boy, you'll know when the time comes. Or not if they truly aren't your friends."

Tsuna could imagine all the question marks appearing over his head. "Right, thanks mister. How much does this total up to be?"

"This? Oh, don't worry, you're my only customer, have it for free!"

Tsuna mentally facepalmed. If he was his only customer, how does he make money to keep his store in business if he gives away things for free? "Uh, thanks."

"No problem, it's nice to see nostalgic faces around here again."

* * *

"Juuuuudaaaaiiiimeeeee!"

A loud yell brought Tsuna's attention over to the right where he saw the rapidly growing figure of his friend, Gokudera.

"Yoh Tsuna!"

Tsuna looked over to his left to see the smiling face of Yamamoto.

"Ohayo, minna." Tsuna smiled, his fingers nervously picking at his cloak.

"Juudaime! Merry Christmas!" Gokudera materialized beside Tsuna. Atop his head sat a fuzzy red hat topped with a white puffball.

"Merry Christmas, Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto."

"So, what's up Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked his smile still planted across his face.

"Hmm? Well, once everyone else gets here I'll tell you."

One by one, all the others arrived. Mukuro and Chrome, Ryohei, Lambo, and finally Hibari (although a little reluctantly).

"So, I signed us up for something special today." Tsuna regarded each one of his friends' reactions before moving one. "It's a holiday mission that I think all of you will enjoy. Basically, we give gifts to as many players as possible. If a gift is given to a player participated in the mission, then our score will go down. Whichever party hands out the most gifts, wins."

"Haha, sounds fun!" Yamamoto laced his fingers and threw his arms behind his head. He smiled expectantly at Gokudera.

"Well, I'll do it only because Juudaime is doing it." Gokudera crossed his arms and glared at Yamamoto.

"Gyahaha, Lambo-san is Santa!" Lambo placed a Santa had on his head and whipped out a fake beard and placed it on his chin.

"EXTREME!" Was all that Ryohei said.

"Kufufu, this will be amusing, won't it, Chrome?"

"Hai, Mukuro-sama."

"Hn." Hibari let out a large yawn then walked away.

Tsuna cleared his throat to draw their attention back to him. "Let's have some fun, shall we?"

* * *

_World 32- Felicità_

_(Joy)_

"Yahoo!" Yamamoto jumped onto a roof and disappeared through the chimney of a residential house. For a few seconds, there was nothing then he reappeared in a large cloud of dust and coal.

"Haha, that was fun!" He laughed and wiped some soot from his cheek. Across his back, a large red bag hung, bulging with items.

"Tch, you don't do it right, Sword-freak, I'll show you how it's done." Gokudera leaped down the nearest chimney with Yamamoto watching. There was a loud crash, silence, another crash, a scream sounding suspiciously like "pervert", and then a poof of smoke. Gokudera popped out of the chimney and landed ungraciously on his butt.

"Are you sure that's how it's done, Gokudera? I think I like my way better."

Gokudera brushed dust off his shoulder and scowled. There was a large slap mark across his face and his clothes were torn up and dirtied. "Urusai."

"Maa, maa Gokudera, no need to get all worked up about hit." Yamamoto held up his hands in a placating gesture.

"Tch."

"Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto, how's it going?" Tsuna ran up to them, his clothes covered in black but his red sack noticeably thinner than the others'.

"Great! How about you?"

"Teme! I was supposed to respond to Juudaime, not you!"

"Oh, gomen, gomen." Yamamoto apologized whilst smiling.

"Tch."

Tsuna smiled at their antics. "Me? I guess I'm doing pretty well; I've got about half way through my presents. Once I'm done, I'll get it refilled."

"Juudaime! You're amazing! I wish I could work that fast!" Gokudera gushed, all sparkles and flowers.

"Ahaha, really? I'm not that good, you should watch Onii-san, he's in and out."

"Tch, I refuse to admit that Turf-top is better than Juudaime. If I must, I will incapacitate him so he can't participate anymore."

"Gokudera-kun!"

"I'm sorry, Juudaime! Forgive my rudeness!"

"Haha, you two are funny. If I see tryouts for a play sometime, you guys should sign up, I'll even do it with you."

"Baka! What makes you think that we want to become actors?"

"Oh? But you're really good."

"Teme! I'll blast you to pieces."

"Gokudera-kun!"

"Ah! I'm so sorry Juudaime!" Gokudera fell to his knees and began to bow, repeatedly smashing his head against the roof.

"S-stop Gokudera-kun! You'll hurt yourself and you're probably annoying the players who live in the house!" Tsuna cried.

"Really Juudaime?"

Tsuna sighed, "yes." Will this torment ever end?

* * *

Next, Tsuna checked up on Mukuro and Chrome, deciding that he might as well get over with it.

"Bossu."

"Hi Chrome! Where's Mukuro?"

Chrome stared at a house for a second then pointed to it.

"Oh, I see, how are you two doing? Need any help?"

Chrome shook her head. "No."

"Hmm, are you sure?"

"Hai."

"Haah, you're no fun, c'mon, let me help!" Tsuna nudged Chrome expectantly.

"I'll ask Mukuro-sama for you." Chrome said stubbornly.

Tsuna sighed dejectedly, "Fine, I'll wait." Suddenly, he jumped when a hand rested on his shoulder.

"Oya oya? What do we have here?"

"Mukuro!" Tsuna let out an involuntary shiver.

"Ah, Mukuro-sama, Bossu said that he wants to help us."

"Oh? And why is that?" Mukuro smirked when he saw the blond flinch.

"Uh, I, um, felt like it?"

"Lame excuse but it'll do. Say, let's have a match. Chrome and I against you. Deal?"

Tsuna nodded.

"Begin." Mukuro and Chrome dissipated into the mist.

"Hey! Not fair!" Tsuna shouted into the air to nobody in particular for he didn't know where the two pineapples had gone off to.

He leaped onto a new roof and jumped down the chimney. Inside the house, he deposited a present by the Christmas tree then entered the fireplace, shooting back up into the open in a cloud of soot. Ahead of him, Mukuro and Chrome were already dashing back and forth between houses.

"Juudaime!"

"Tsuna!"

The blond mentioned turned around to face two of his friends.

"What are you doing now?" Yamamoto asked.

"Race. Against Mukuro and Chrome." Tsuna replied quickly, eyeing where the two had last been seen.

"Sounds fun, mind if we help?"

"Sure!"

"Don't worry Juudaime, with me on your team, there's no doubt that we'll win!"

"Yeah Tsuna, let's do this!"

"Thanks you guys."

They spread out, each to different houses, carrying their large bags full of toys. Each of them went down a chimney then popped out, racing to the next one.

When Tsuna landed in the fireplace of one house, he came face-to-face with Mukuro.

"Kufufu looks like you are too late." Mukuro gave a little wave, a sinister smirk then disappeared into the mist.

"Whaa!" Tsuna cried, "It's not fair that you get those powers to transport yourself! I'm stuck with running and jumping, you get it easy!"

Suddenly, a creak was heard from a nearby bed.

Like a deer in headlights, Tsuna looked up to see the face of a little boy. He gave a little wave. "Hi?"

"Aaah! Burglar! Theif! Mommy!" The little boy took his pillow and chucked it at the poor blond with surprising accuracy.

"Hiiee!"

"Juudaime! Are you okay?" Gokudera immediately slid down the chimney and stood beside Tsuna with his dynamite in his hands.

"Gokudera-kun!"

"Where's the threat? Tell me and I'll blast him to pieces."

When another scream came from the direction of the bed, Gokudera zeroed in on the small child and narrowed his eyes. "Just tell me when Juudaime and I'll eradicate the threat."

"No, no, no Gokudera-kun! Don't attack, I just startled him, that's all!" Tsuna jumped in front of the bomber and spread his arms out.

"Are you sure Juudaime?"

"Yes! Now let's get out of here before we really do get attacked by an angry mom!" Tsuna pushed Gokudera towards the fireplace and gave one last look at the boy. "Merry Christmas!"

With that, they were back outside and racing to their next target.

* * *

"Sawada!"

Tsuna stopped mid-jump at the mention of his name and landed headfirst on the roof.

"Gyahaha! Dame-Tsuna will always be Dame-Tsuna!"

"Onii-san, Lambo?" Tsuna groaned and picked himself off of the roof, rubbing his chin.

"That was EXTREME Sawada!"

"Uhhh. Onii-san, that was a fall."

"What are you talking about?" Ryohei grinned. He had dressed himself up as Santa, complete with the beard and large tummy.

"I fell, Onii-san, I fell."

"Oh."

"Oi, Dame-Tsuna! I bet the Great Lambo-san has beat you!"

"Really Lambo?" Tsuna teased playfully, "I'll let you in on a secret. I'm already on my second bad."

Lambo's mouth hung open for a few seconds before Ryohei put his hand on the boy's chin and closed it for him.

Regaining his composure, Lambo spoke. "Bah, I bet that's a lie. Dame-Tsuna can't beat the Lambo-san!"

"Hmm, really? Then I'll let you and Onii-san join the Pineapples' side and we'll see who can get the most now."

"Hmph! Lambo-san will win even if Lambo-san is stuck with the creepy Pineapple heads." Lambo snorted haughtily.

Tsuna laughed. "We'll see about that."

* * *

When Tsuna finally found Hibari, the prefect was sitting on the windowsill of a house, snoring gently. Landing on the roof, Tsuna hung over the side of the house to peer at the prefect. When he was only inches away, Hibari's eyes snapped open and fell on Tsuna.

"Herbivore."

Nervously, Tsuna replied, "Hi-Hibari-san."

"You disrupted my sleep." Hibari jumped onto the roof and took out his tonfas. "I'll bite you to death."

"Hiiee! I didn't mean too! Please don't hurt me!" Tsuna made a mad dash for the nearest chimney and dove down into it, the school prefect hot on his tail. Inside, he plopped a present on the floor and shot out the window as soon as he heard the thump of a person landing in the fireplace. Thank goodness the window was open.

When he landed, he rolled forward to make his fall softer. He rolled into a standing position then took off and worked his way through the streets. Once he felt he had put a safe distance between him and the bloodthirsty prefect, he climbed onto a roof and resumed his present giving… only to run into a Hibari in a very, very, very bad mood.

* * *

"Oya oya, fancy meeting you here."

"Hey." Tsuna waved half-heartedly. His hand was in his bag, ready to pull out a present and so was Mukuro's.

"So, who got here first? I say I did." In a flash, Mukuro's hand was out of the bag and holding a present that he set neatly on the floor.

Tsuna sighed defeated; he rubbed his bruises and cuts with his now free hand.

"So, how many presents have you handed out?" Mukuro asked, suspiciously eyeing the red sack that Tsuna was carrying.

"Well, my team and I have done about 300."

"Hmm, well, my team has got around 500. Looks like you're loosing." Mukuro smirked as his mismatched eyes flashed.

For the umpteenth time that day, Tsuna sighed. "Yeah, looks like it."

* * *

A beat up Tsuna wandered through the town, wearily handing out presents to whoever walked by. Gone was his jump-through-the-chimney method, now he was passing out presents in town. The easy way.

* * *

When Tsuna and his seven friends wound up back at the present factory, the quest had ended. The results would be announced soon.

"So, minna, how did everyone do?" Tsuna asked.

"EXTREME!"

"Awesome!"

"Lambo-san beat all of you!"

"Kufufu."

"Mukuro-sama means he did well."

"Tch. Stupid Pineapple Head."

"Oya oya? What did you call me Octopus Head?"

"Teme! I'll blast you to pieces."

"Maa maa everyone."

"EXTREME FIGHT!"

"Herbivore, be quite."

Tsuna could only stare.

"Ahem, players, it is now time to announce the winners!" The MC came onstage and smiled to the crowd. "Drum roll please!"

Loud cheers echoed throughout the area.

"Now, the winner of this year's Christmas Quest is… The Vongola X with an outstanding score of 1,376!"

On a screen behind the MC, the top 10 parties appeared. The second place winners only had a score of 659. Tsuna just shrugged. 1,376? It was expected.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I have another thing to announce. It seems like Vongola X has beaten the previous high score by 712 points! Congratulations!"

Beside Tsuna, Lambo cheered. "I bet Lambo-san got the most presents because Lambo-san is the Great Lambo-san!"

"Urusai Ahoshi, Juudaime handed out the most."

"Maa maa, I'm sure we all handed out equal amounts."

"That is EXTREMELY unlikely, Yamamoto."

"Oi Turf-top, are you actually acting smart for a change?" Gokudera rounded on Ryohei with suspicious eyes.

"What are you talking about Tako-Head? I'm acting how I always do."

"Tch. Yeah right."

"You're bickering is hurting Chrome's ears, quiet." Mukuro entered the conversation, subconsciously pulling Chrome close to his body.

"I'll bite you to death." Hibari appeared (miraculously) beside Mukuro complete with his tonfas.

"Oya oya, it's about time you showed your face, Skylark."

"Pineapple Head." Hibari turned his attention to Mukuro whose trident materialized in his hand.

"Maa maa you guys, no fighting, it's Christmas, a time to celebrate!" Yamamoto smiled cheerfully, crossing his arms behind his head.

"Yamamoto is right, we should be celebrating, not fighting." Tsuna suggested, siding with Yamamoto.

"I will do whatever Juudaime wishes!" Gokudera bowed at a ninety-degree angle.

"Uh, thanks, Gokudera-kun. Now, let's go up on stage huh?" Tsuna led the way up the stairs and they all gathered in front of the MC.

"You're the Vongola X?"

Tsuna nodded.

"Then, I present you with your prize." The announcer handed Tsuna a large trophy shaped like Santa's sack. When you looked inside the bag, there were various items stored inside. "Congratulations."

All together (sans Hibari), they lifted the trophy into the air and enjoyed the cheers that erupted from the crowd below.

"Merry Christmas everyone!"

* * *

Tsuna fidgeted with the hem of his cloak. His guardians peered at him worriedly.

"Tsuna?"

"Juudaime?"

"It's nothing." Tsuna responded a little too quickly. They only eyed him even more.

Finally, he couldn't hold it in anymore. He flicked his wrist, scrolled through his inventory and brought out the presents that he had gotten for his friends.

"Merry Christmas!" He tucked his head between his arms and squeezed his eyes shut as he faced the ground in a bowing position.

"Oya oya, what's this?"

"Hmm, EXTREME rock!"

"Bossu?"

"Herbivore, I demand that you return this."

As the comments passed into Tsuna's ears, the blond blushed profusely. "Uh, I'm sure that there's something special inside, just give it a little bit."

"Are you sure Juudaime? It looks like a rock to me… Gah! I can't believe I just doubted Juudaime's word! Forgive me for my rudeness, I will commit seppuku on your command!"

"Don't worry Gokudera-kun, I'm not mad."

Gokudera looked up. "Really?"

"Yes."

In a flash, he was up on his feet and grinning like an idiot.

"Hey, Tsuna, we have a surprise for you too! Follow us!" Yamamoto took Tsuna's arm and dragged him away with the rest of the guardians in the lead.

"Wait! I just dropped your presents!" The "rocks" that were still in Tsuna's arms dropped onto the ground as soon as Yamamoto grabbed Tsuna.

"Oh, whoops, sorry 'bout that."

"Ah, it's ok, I'll just put them away for now."

For a few minutes, they walked through a small town, seemingly aimlessly. But soon, they came to a stop when the buildings thinned out and a large cliff appeared, jutting dangerously out of the earth.

"Merry Christmas!" Everyone cheered, popping streamers and throwing confetti.

To the side, a Christmas tree stood, lights and ornaments decorated the fresh green, atop sat an elegant star. Underneath, presents sat innocently. Each was colored differently. There was a section of orange, one of red, a blue one, some yellow, a couple of green, purple, and indigo ones.

Strewn across the ground, fake deer and other Christmas decorations adorned the grass.

"I-it's beautiful." Tsuna stood awestruck at the work that his friends must have spent hours on end on. Behind all the decorations, the sun was finally setting, casting all the shades of the rainbow across the sky.

"Haha, we're glad you like it." Yamamoto grinned while the rest nodded. Even Hibari looked slightly content.

"Arigatou, minna." Tsuna looked at the ground when he felt tears of happiness well up in his eyes. He let out an involuntary sniff. Immediately, Gokudera was at his side.

"Juudaime, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Tsuna wiped his tears away. "I'm just… really, really happy."

Suddenly, a screen flashed.

_Please open your bag._

Tsuna obeyed and brought up his bag. When he went down his list of items, the 8 stones were glowing, each a color of the rainbow. "Huh? I wonder what's happening." Tsuna took them out of his bag and stared at their glowing figures in amazement.

Slowly, he picked up the rock glowing red and handed it to Gokudera. The one in blue went to Yamamoto. The one with green he handed to Lambo. The one glowing yellow was given to Ryohei. The two in indigo were handed to Mukuro and Chrome and then lastly, the purple one to Hibari. The orange one, he held on to.

All of the stones began to glow with luminescent tinge. They began to float out of the hands that held them and into the air. Simultaneously, they flashed their respected colors then faded. In their place, were weapons.

In Gokudera's hands was a bow structured out of bones. The string was made out of pure Tempesta flames and when Gokudera pulled his arm back, an arrow made out of more storm flames appeared. On his arm that held the bow, a shield with a red jewel covered half of his arm. In one of his hands, sat a flaring red box, decorated with gold rings.

Yamamoto was looking at his own present. He was staring at three short swords in one of his hands and a long sword in his other. Each was covered in light-blue Pioggia flames. The long sword's hilt was a swallow. He also had a box just like Gokudera but colored blue.

Ryohei had on white boxing gloves with an emblem on the tops. On his head was a head protector, the same emblem across the forehead. Resting in his palm was yellow box.

Lambo was staring dumbly at his own weapon, which just happened to be an over-sized shield with horns pocking out of the sides. On his head was a metal band with a green jewel. Spinning around his own horns were green and grey loops. He also had his own box in green.

Moving on to Mukuro and Chrome, each of them was looking at a piece of a lens. When they put them together, they formed a multiple layered lens with wings that helped it float in front of the user's eye. In Chrome's hand was an indigo box.

Hibari was lazily twirling a pair of spiked black handcuffs, not much different from his purple ones. In his other hand was a purple box, much like all the previous ones.

When Tsuna looked at his own, there sat a new pair of gloves. They were a sleek black with a large circular gem embedded in the middle. Lining the circumference of the blue gem were four triangular pieces of steel. Between the triangles were letters. The fingers were colored silver with steel joints just above the knuckles. Lying atop the gloves, he had his own orange box but his had blue, red, yellow, green, purple, and indigo gems in a circle around the smaller opening.

"EXTREME BOXING!" Ryohei yelled to the sky, his new gloves already on his hands.

"I-it's wonderful Juudaime, thank you."

"Wow, these swords feel so light."

"Mukuro-sama, I can see the craters on the moon with this."

"Really? Let me see."

"Hn. Thanks."

"Lambo-san got the biggest gift!"

"No you didn't Ahoshi, mine's bigger!"

"Uh, do you know what's inside these boxes?" Tsuna asked, holding up his orange box to the rapidly fading light of the Sun.

"No." Came the replies.

"Oh. Does anyone know how to open then?"

"No." Came the replies.

"Oh. Bummer." Tsuna put his new items in his inventory and his friends did the same. "Well everyone, thanks you, really, you made this day special."

"No problem Tsuna, it was fun!"

"I will do anything for Juudaime!"

"Gyahaha! Lambo-san only did it for his favorite subordinate."

"Your welcome Bossu."

"Kufufu."

"Hn."

"EXTREME CELEBRATING!"

"Now, let's celebrate Christmas for real, shall we?"

_Merry Christmas_

* * *

**Yo! How's everyone doing, long time no see huh? Sorry for the late update, I've been overwhelmed with school, homework, and projects. It's finally break so I'm free for two weeks before school starts again. So I'll update as much as I can within those 2 weeks. Anyways, I hope the chapter wasn't too boring and repetitive. I know it was really long, the longest chapter I've ever written actually. But other than that, I hope you enjoyed it. By the way, I haven't proofread this yet so, point out any mistakes for me will you?**

**I have a few announcements to make. First of all, I know this is a little delayed but to everyone who answered 'Turkey' in response to the last omake is correct! Next, I'm closing the poll so, to those who haven't voted yet, I'll give you a few more days but that's it.**

**Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it and happy other holidays for the others out there!**

**Thank you to those who reviewed, followed/alerted, and faved.**

**Tell me what you think and leave a review! Ciao!**


	19. Chapter 15: Ascension

Chapter 15: Ascension

**A/N: Hey guys, to any native Spanish-speaking readers out there, Sette Fiamme Mondiale now has a translation to Spanish. If you find it easier to read in your native tongue, the link is on my profile.**

**Rated T+ for possible violence**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

* * *

_World 20- Far Sparire_

_(Vanish)_

Gokudera whipped out his bow and arrow. He sent a volley of arrows to the player who was charging at him. Well, not actually charging. He was actually standing there calmly with his yo-yo bouncing up and down. There was a big difference.

The wave of needles that this guy had thrown at him was flawlessly blocked by Gokudera's bow. They lay on the ground, useless.

"Ha, it looks like I have the upper hand in this battle." Gokudera sneered, cocking his bow with another arrow positioned and ready to shoot.

"I will accomplish anything if it is for Mukuro-sama. Even if that means defeating an opponent with the upper hand." The boy replied in a dead tone. For a second his glasses flashed, revealing his blank eyes before going back to their glossy look.

Gokudera just scowled in reply. "I don't give a d*mn!" With that, he launched the arrow straight at the player's head.

The player either didn't hear or didn't acknowledge the previous comment. Instead, he flung his yo-yo up and knocked the projectile out of the air, simultaneously shooting more razor sharp needles out of the red plastic.

"D*mn it! These things are so annoying!" Gokudera cursed, this time avoiding the needles the best he could. Some embedded themselves into his arms but he yanked them out before they got in his way. He winced and tossed the sharp weapons aside.

"I won't let you get away." The black-haired teen shot more needles out of his yo-yo with a sharp flick of his hand.

"Tch, and I don't plan on you catching me." The bomber jumped back as the needles pierced the ground before him in a wave of resounding thumps. Then, he turned his back and ran deeper into the woods.

Unfazed, the teen followed him, knowing the forest like the back of his hand. If the archer took a wrong turn, he could easily counter it and overcome him, resulting in an advantage. The player let himself smirk the tiniest bit. It would definitely be his win.

But, Gokudera was also thinking up his own plan. He wouldn't leave his back wide open; it was a sign of cowardice. To leave your back open meant instant death, anyone could attack you from behind without your realization.

So, he slipped his hands into his jacket and pulled out several of his dynamites. When a large tree came into view, he ran around it, knowing that his opponent would follow. He counted down for a few seconds before lighting the fuses to his dynamites and throwing them out into the open, right into the path of his follower.

He smiled, expecting an explosion. But, after a few short moments, it never came. He found the cause when the yo-yo came whipping around the tree, heading straight for him. The needles came out from the whole circumference of the yo-yo, easily tripling the amount of weapons heading at him.

"Sh*t!" He cursed under his breath. Thinking quickly, he took his bow and twirled it in front of him in a form of protection from the onslaught of attacks. The needles fell to the ground with muffled clinks. Even though most of them had been blocked, due to their thinness, three made it through his guard and pierced his arm while five more worked their way into his chest.

Sticky, red liquid pooled across his shirt, angrily, he did his best to glare at wherever the sneaky bast****d was. Gokudera let out a painful breath. Quickly, he gingerly pulled the needles out from his body and flung them with poor aim at the trees, hoping to at least hit something. When a rustle could be heard from bushes nearby, he spun on his heel and pulled an arrow out of his quiver.

Needles came hurtling towards him but he leaped to the side just in time.

As a counter, he knocked an arrow, sending it straight for the yo-yo that was still spinning in the air. If only he could halt the movements of that weapon, then he would have a chance at a successful attack.

When the arrow bounced harmlessly off of the smooth surface, an idea hit him. Of course the yo-yo would be reinforced with some sort of metal or rubber. If so, he needed to do something in order to breach that form of defense.

He brainstormed ideas while running away yet again. It was the only form of evasion that he could think of while trying to focus on something else. Tempesta's power is Disintegration. No, that wouldn't work, at least, not yet. If he could at least form a crack and then use the storm flames to continue the break down. Wait. What about Fulmine? Yes, that was it.

Strangely, when he had begun to play the game, he had been identified with 5 different flame types, Tempesta being his main one, then Sole, Pioggia, Fulmine, and Nuvola.

Perfect.

He dashed behind a tree, disappearing from his adversary's sight to confuse his for at least a few seconds.

Readying another arrow, he poured the crackling green energy into the weapon, charging it with flames of lightning. Fulmine's power was Hardening. If so, he could use its power to strengthen his arrowhead. Then, he might be able to damage the yo-yo.

The white-haired archer and bomber sucked in a deep breath then let it out in a noisy exhale. It was meant to alert his foe of his position. And it worked.

The yo-yo came hurling around the tree. Right where he wanted it.

Gokudera felt the soft brush of the fletching slide past his fingertips. The cool breeze followed where the arrow disrupted the air. It let out a sharp whistle until it hit its target with a reassuring "thwak."

Bull's-eye.

* * *

Yamamoto drew his bamboo sword. The hard wood suddenly changed into the cold metal of a real sword. The tip glinted in the half-light, the rest of the blade reflecting the image of a charging beast.

He moved away from Lambo who was still sleeping on the ground, oblivious to his surroundings. He shifted his feet to take of the proper stance for his swordsmanship.

This was not a practice fight with Tsuna. No—this was real as much as part of his mind tried to deny it.

In real life, he knew that his father used to be a swordsman—the dojo, the swords hanging off the wall, even the ways he held the knives used to cut fish. Everything about him screamed, "I have a sword and I know how to use it!"

At first, he had no ambition to follow in his father's footsteps. His love was baseball, not swordsmanship. But, that all changed when he was introduced to Sette Fiamme Mondiale by a "friend."

It was a game that solely revolved around fighting. Yes, they might have the occasional ballpark or recreation center. But that was only for the sole purpose of giving the virtual world a real-life feel to it. In this game, you fought to grow stronger, to race to the top. Naturally, every player wants to gain power. Also meaning that the strong prey on the weak to grow stronger.

Dying was a norm. But you always came back. Of course, it had its penalties—loss of items, money, sometimes even stats. Despite that, in many good players, death was not a fear.

Even so, images of him dying briefly passed through his mind but he quickly shook them off. His sword style—the one that he had seen his father perform once for him— was invincible. The only problem was that he had only tried it out himself twice, which was not enough time to perfect it. But for some reason, every time he did it felt…natural.

Well, here it goes.

Yamamoto charged, his sword to his right, sliding neatly across the forest floor. Meanwhile, his opponent did the same, he beastly claws outstretched and ready to rip at flesh.

The battle might be tough but he would make it, Tsuna was depending on him to win! (Hide and seek of course. This battle was just an obstacle in his way).

He lifted his katana and thrust it out in front of his body. He tucked his head between his arms and pushed his flames—to the best of his ability—into the sword. The flames came out weak, he would have to work on that a little, but he knew the attack itself would be powerful.

'_Shigure Soen Ryu Stance 1: Shajiku no Ame!'_

They clashed, sword against claws. Yamamoto's blue flames spurted forward when the attack hit, splashing the large beast in water.

"Oi! What is this?" The half-gorilla, half-human growled.

"Hmm, what are you talking about? It's just water." Yamamoto supplied helpfully, leaving his katana hanging down by his side.

The over-sized gorilla looked up and glared before slamming his paw against Yamamoto's side.

Yamamoto was cast away. He flew through the air until a tree helped him stop. He felt his sword fly out of his hand upon impact. The clatter of it touching ground seemed far away. He slid down the trunk with a painful gasp.

"Ow, ow, ow." With the help of the little light the forest supplied, Yamamoto looked at his shoulder and rubbed it. A small dark stain was already blooming across his blue cloak.

"Aw, come on. Don't tell me you're takin' a break now, byon." A rough voice called out through the darkness. "No matter where you are, I'll find you immediately. Your scent is all over the place, accompanied by your blood. Once I enter my Lupo Canale…" The player let his sentence hang.

There were a few seconds of silence before rustling noises began to sound. Gradually, they became loud thumps, echoing off the ground. Yamamoto whirled around to face the noise only to be greeted by a monstrous clawed hand.

"…I can sniff you right away!"

The hand swiped through air as Yamamoto dodged by a hair, literally even, when he saw one strand of dark blue hair float from his head. But the second he dodged, he was greeted on the other side of his body with another attack.

On instinct, he turned on his heel and shielded his body with his arms. Claws sliced through his flesh and he winced in pain. Good thing this wasn't the real world or else Baseball might have to be put on hold.

A flurry of attacks was what came next. His body screamed in protest yet he remained steady with his arms crossed protectively. Sharp claws sliced through his sleeves, and warm, wet blood trickled out of the wounds his arms sported. He wouldn't last much longer, at least, not without his sword.

"You keep on running away, byon. Are you stalling and waiting for somebody to save you?" The player stopped in his attacks and sat down like a dog.

Realizing that he was no longer in imminent danger, Yamamoto straightened and scratched his cheek in embarrassment. "Nope, it's just that I have other important things to do, I can't let myself lose here. You see, we're playing hide-and-seek and Tsuna is counting on me!"

"Tsu-na?" The beast's voice faltered for a second before regaining its haughty tone. "Hmph, that loser? Tell you what, after I'm finished with you, I'll hunt this Tsuna person down and kill him myself." Even while he said it, it was almost as if inside, he was reluctant to do so.

"Sorry, but I can't let that happen. Tsuna is my friend." Slowly, Yamamoto backed away and crouched down. He fingered through the grass before touching something hard and rough. He grabbed it and tucked it in his pocket before searching for more. When he was satisfied, he stood back up with a grin. His body automatically settled into a familiar stance and he grabbed one of the items from his pocket.

His eyes narrowed and his arm wound up. He threw.

"What?" The player looked up fiercely when something large and hard hit him on the head.

"C'mon. If I get you with this, it's game and set." Yamamoto held up a round stone and smiled.

"Ohh, a challenge, byon? How interesting… Ghepardo Canale!" The person began to grow spots across his face and his feet morphed into hind paws. Once the transformation was complete, he leaped at eye-popping speed.

Yamamoto hurled a stone through the air on impulse. But his opponent only leaped to the side with ease. "Missed me!"

Yamamoto got ready to pitch another stone but was stopped when he felt excruciating pain in his arm. He looked down. Gleaming fangs had sunk into his throwing arm. Blood was already coating what little fabric was left of his cloak and little "plips" sounded as the blood pooled underneath him.

"Got you, byon."

There was silence. Only the sound of dripping blood could be heard. Not even Yamamoto's racing heart could stop the stillness that followed. Only…

"Sword-Freak? What's going on?"

* * *

Yes, there was no doubt about it. It was the same Kiri as a few years ago—the pineapple styled hair, the mismatched eyes. But now, it seemed, his red eye had the kanji '6' centered in it, not the 2 that had been there last time.

'_Although…'_ Tsuna mused, _'he seems a little different than before. Especially that laugh. Where did that come from?' _

Tsuna shook his head to clear his thoughts. Someone that he thought he would never see again had reappeared. After all, when he had finally come back to wreak havoc upon the Estraneo, the guild had already been destroyed, demolished, wiped out of the face of the game. And that had led him to think that everything with it was gone.

"Hn. Let me take care of it Herbivore." Hibari stepped in front of the blond, his eyes thirsting for a battle.

"No! Let me, this is all my fault!"

"Stay out of it." Hibari snarled, glaring back at Tsuna.

"B-but—" Tsuna stammered, subconsciously shrinking under the prefect's gaze.

"Let him fight me, O-o-z-o-r-a." Mukuro sneered, "I plan on killing you last. No, actually, I'll hurt you. But I won't let you die. No—I'll let you experience my pain, the pain that I endured—the pain that we wouldn't have gone through IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU!"

This time, Tsuna felt like an insignificant bug that could have been squashed without anyone noticing. His first friend, his only friend at the time, had been turned into an empty shell, bent on revenge. Part of him wanted to give in and let Kiri—or Mukuro—take over and claim the victory. But the other part wouldn't back down, refusing to accept that this was the Kiri he knew.

"I'm sorry, K-i-r-i," Tsuna let the name roll off of his tongue as if it tasted bad. "But I'll have to graciously decline your offer. If you put my friends in danger, then there will be nothing left of you for anyone to recognize." It hurt Tsuna to say it, but maybe it was time to let go of the past…

"Oya oya? Oozora with a backbone? Such an interesting combination but of no use. I have no reason to go back on my word and I don't plan on either."

Finally, Hibari's little patience snapped. He charged with full intent on biting a certain Pineapple-head to death.

"Oya oya? Getting ahead of ourselves now are we? No matter, it means nothing to me." Mukuro twirled the trident lazily then stopped and slammed it to the ground. "I have seen many equal to your level in skill, and every time, I've buried them. In a place much like Hell."

Massive pillars of fire erupted from the ground, casting ominous glows on the surrounding area. They were unpredictable and they caused Tsuna to leap to and fro in order to remain unscathed.

Mukuro rammed his trident into the ground again. Once the butt of the trident hit the ground, the earth was sucked into the weapon.

Tsuna unsteadily grabbed for something so he wouldn't be pulled in but his attempts failed as he rapidly slid to Mukuro. Close by, Hibari was in the same predicament.

"Kufufufu, you can't escape. My illusions cannot be broken." He held up his trident, as Hibari was pulled in further like a magnet. The weapon was parallel to the ground and the three sharp tips were pointing directly at the prefect's body, ready to impale it.

Noticing the threat, Hibari held up his tonfas and swiped at the trident. But, the steel only bounced harmlessly off as Hibari inched nearer and nearer.

Thinking quickly, the tonfas disappeared and were replaced with purple handcuffs. He threw them forward as soon as the longest tip of the weapon was less than a foot away. Gripping one cuff, the other latched itself onto the double-sided spear. He jerked the handcuffs to the side, pulling the trident away and out of harm's reach, narrowly escaping the impalement.

Tsuna, who had watched the whole ordeal, breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oya oya, that wasn't very nice." Mukuro said, returning his weapon to his side.

"Hn."

With one tap, the ground stopped collapsing. "Let's try a different method of attack." Mukuro's eyes widened and his right one switched to the kanji 'four', and it was enveloped in indigo flames.

The events that followed flew by quickly as Hibari and Mukuro engaged in combat. Hits were exchanged and no side looked like it would let up. They stood head-to-head in terms of skill.

All the while, Tsuna, unfortunately, remained glued to the ground, sunken up to his waist in dirt. Determined to get out, he began to wiggle to loosen the earth around him. After several minutes, he had made space large enough to barely squeeze through.

Planting his hands on the ground, he pushed until his arms could no longer move him further. From there, he crawled his way out. He lay on his stomach, panting from the exertion. When he felt like his breath had been regained, he looked up to see how Hibari was faring. Which, apparently, was actually not that good.

"The reason you lost, was because you had me as your opponent." Mukuro smiled, "It seems like you have a weakness." Mukuro laughed, the indigo flame surrounding his eye seemed to glow brighter.

In response, Hibari just scowled angrily.

"Do you like it? My Sakura trees I mean. Lovely aren't they?"

With a start, Tsuna realized the old, withered trees had transformed into perfectly healthy Sakura trees complete with bright pink blossoms. But why did Mukuro mention a weakness of Hibari's? Sakura trees couldn't be one, they were just trees!

As if sensing his confusion, Mukuro turned his head to smile teasingly at the blond. "Has he not told you?" Instead of waiting for a reply, Mukuro forged ahead. "Of course he wouldn't. But I can tell you."

Tsuna wanted to know. But Hibari glared at him from his position on the ground. He was lying under Mukuro with a pained but defiant look. Beads of sweat trickled down his face and his grip on his handcuffs was so strong that his knuckles had turned white.

"No answer? Hmm, but I'll tell you anyways. Your little Skylark here was infected by the Sakura-kura virus, courtesy of the Trident Mosquito. I believe you've heard of him?"

Tsuna nodded albeit a little reluctantly.

Mukuro shrugged. "That's all you need to know." Then he bent over the prefect's form and grabbed him by the hair, earning a wince of pain. He gripped his trident and held it to Hibari's neck. "Now, Oozora, what are you going to do? Shall I kill him by slitting his throat?" Mukuro slid the blade of the trident across the prefect's neck in imitation of his words but without cutting through skin. "Or should I stab his head?" This time, the trident was held right beside Hibari's head, the longest tip touching his temple. "But I can always pierce the heart." Mukuro smiled as he tapped his trident over Hibari's chest right where the heart was located. "Of course there are many other places to kill someone. Shall I give some examples? The jugular—"

"Th-that's enough!" Tsuna shouted, his hands balled into fists and quivering at his side. For a second, his eyes were shadowed by his bangs but when he looked up, they were filled with steely determination.

"I'll fight you, just leave Hibari-san alone."

"Really, how interesting. Can you really fight your former best friend?"

"You're not the Kiri I know, Kiri would never have hurt someone!"

Mukuro's eyes narrowed menacingly. "Well then you don't know me."

"I bet I don't anymore but I used to. Tell, me, what happened to Dobutsu and Kakipi, your family? Did you cast them aside in your thirst for revenge?"

"Shut up! You know nothing of them!"

Tsuna forged on ahead, not letting his emotions waver. "And what about Kirisame? She was like a real sister to you even though you tried to deny it. You stepped up and let those scientists experiment on you instead of her; you took her place because you cared for her. But where is she now? Was she thrown away like Dobutsu and Kakipi?"

"I said shut up! You don't understand anything. I-I-I'll kill you!"

Tsuna closed his eyes. For the first time in a long time, he let something within him snap. Immediately following, he felt the familiar warmth spread through his body, centering in his hands and on his forehead. For a second, a twinge of fear surfaced but he pushed it down. Now was not the time for memories to play with his emotions.

When he reopened his eyes, they had changed from gold to a calming orange. A flame alighted on his forehead and a powerful blast of flames flowed out of his hands.

"It seems like you are too far gone. I guess there's no other way." Tsuna shifted his feet then pushed off, flames powering his dash. In a blink of an eye, Hibari was out of Mukuro's grip and lying against a tree, Tsuna gently setting him down. Within another second, the blond was in front of Mukuro with his fist coated in orange flames and arm pulled back, ready to strike.

Mukuro didn't have time to block as Tsuna's hand connected with his cheek, sending him flying across the clearing.

Tsuna dropped his arm and let it hang by his side. He looked up, his gaze filled with resolution.

"Kiri—no, Mukuro... If I don't defeat you, I can't die in peace!"

* * *

Mini New Year Omake!

**Please note that this omake has nothing to do with the original storyline.**

_World 18- Acquazzone_

_(Downpour)_

It was New Year's Day in Sette Fiamme Mondiale. Currently, eight players were gathered in World 18: Acquazzone by a large fountain.

"Is everyone here?" A blond asked, counting heads.

"Hai, Juudaime." A white-haired player responded.

"Great, then let's go!"

The group headed off to the nearby town, shouting and talking cheerily.

When they arrived, the traditional and old-fashioned styled Japanese town greeted them. The air was filled with the sweet smells of baking food and the streets were crowded with players lining up for fresh ramen or takoyaki.

"Tsuna-nii! Lambo-san wants takoyaki!" A light-blue haired boy jumped excitedly around the blond who sighed.

"Not now Lambo, we have to be somewhere and we can't be late."

"But I want takoyaki!" Lambo whined pitifully.

"Urusai Ahoshi, you're annoying Juudaime!" The white-haired teen pulled out a couple sticks of dynamite.

"Lambo-san is not annoying! Tsuna-nii, Baka-Dera is being mean!" Lambo clung to Tsuna's orange cloak and hid in it, only poking his head out to give the other teen a rude face.

"Why you—!"

"Maa maa Gokudera, I'm sure he didn't mean it." A dark-blue haired teen spoke up from beside Tsuna, his face was set in a cheery attitude.

"Urusai Sword-Freak, I don't want to hear your annoying voice."

"Gokudera-kun! That wasn't nice." Tsuna reprimanded, giving Gokudera a sharp look.

"My deepest apologies Juudaime."

"Sawada, let's have an EXTREME boxing match!" A new person with a scar across his left eye shouted to Tsuna, pumping his fists in exaggeration.

"Sorry Onii-san, but not right now, we have to get to the stand."

"Oh, that's right, sorry Sawada."

Tsuna craned his neck to look around Yamamoto. "Hibari-san, are you going now?"

"Hn." A raven-haired boy nodded and stiffly walked off, disappearing within the mass of people.

"Kufufu. Shall Chrome and I leave too?" A boy with pineapple-like hair with a girl who looked almost exactly like him asked.

"Yeah, make sure word is all over." Tsuna replied.

"Not a problem. Come now, Chrome. We have work to do." The two pineapple-heads vanished in a cloud of mist.

"Juudaime, why did you send them off?" Gokudera asked Tsuna, staring at where they had disappeared.

"You'll see, now, let's sell some chocolate bananas shall we?"

* * *

"Come get your chocolate bananas right here!" Gokudera shouted, holding out bananas in both hands and waving them in the air.

"Only 10 yen a piece! Come and get them!" Yamamoto added, holding up two more chocolate bananas.

Behind them, Tsuna was taking the bushels of fruit out of boxes and placing them in a pile. To the left, Lambo was peeling bananas and tossing the peels all over the floor. When he thought no one was looking, he popped one in his mouth, only to get a disapproving look from Tsuna. To the right was Ryohei who was rapidly dipping the peeled bananas in melted chocolate. Once, he accidentally grabbed an unpeeled one and dunked it in the brown sludge. Tsuna just happened to see him at that moment and snatched the banana out of his hand and threw it out the window. It landed on the ground in front of an innocent passerby who shouted at the stand indignantly.

When all the bananas had been peeled and chocolate-ified, they were placed in a cooler so the chocolate could harden. Everyone sat back in relief. Gokudera and Yamamoto looked back at them and handed them a few bananas.

"Good job Juudaime, you deserve a break."

Tsuna gladly accepted the food and slowly licked it. "Man, that was harder than I thought."

"Haha, I guess Gokudera and I have it easy. We only have to sell them and put money in the box."

"Yeah, now we just have to hope all these bananas sell."

"Don't worry Juudaime, if no one comes, I'll buy all of them myself!" Gokudera smiled.

"No, no Gokudera-kun, you don't have to, I'm sure they will sell. I made sure of that."

"You did Juudaime? Might I ask how?"

Tsuna winked. "You'll see when the time comes."

Suddenly, chattering could be heard from the front of the stand. They all looked up to see a crowd of people waiting in line with money in their hands.

"Ahh, looks like it worked." Tsuna grinned and quickly finished his food. He stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothes. "Let's get to work."

* * *

"Tsuna-nii! Tsuna-nii! Hanabi! I want to see the Hanabi!" Lambo jumped around Tsuna who was trying to calm the boy down.

"Don't worry Lambo, they won't be showing for another hour or so. But if you want to see them, calm down so we can find a good spot."

"But Lambo-san wants to see them now!"

"Patience Lambo, now quiet down, you're annoying our customers."

Finally, Lambo closed his mouth and sat dejectedly in the corner, tracing swirls in the dirt. Tsuna sighed in relief then looked over to where Gokudera and Yamamoto were still selling the last of the bananas. Once the last one left Yamamoto's outstretched hand, Tsuna stood up and began to clean up the mess that they had made.

When the floor was clear of banana peels, sticky chocolate, and boxes, they gathered all of their belongings and set off to find a good place to view the fireworks. They ended their search when they found a cliff jutting out off the earth. It gave you the perfect view of the fireworks, without any buildings or pollution to get in your way.

"I should get ahold of Mukuro, Chrome and Hibari-san now, could you all be quiet for a moment?" Tsuna asked, pulling up his home screen.

Everyone nodded silently.

Tsuna pressed a few buttons to connect with Mukuro and Chrome. He waited for a few moments until a window with Mukuro and Chrome's faces popped up.

"Hey, are you finished on your end?" Mukuro asked.

"Yes, where are you?"

"I should be the one asking you that." Mukuro replied, glancing and Chrome then back at the screen. "I take it your somewhere to see the fireworks?"

"Yep, just outside of town, you'll see it immediately."

"Ok, see you."

"Bye."

Mukuro and Chrome's faces minimized and disappeared as Tsuna ended the call. Then, he brought up a new window to contact Hibari.

"Herbivore, what is it?"

"Do you want to see the fireworks with us?"

"I hate crowding."

"We have hamburger steak."

"Hn."

"Great! We're just outside of the town, can't miss it." Tsuna hung up before Hibari could change his mind. The second it ended, the first firework blasted through the air.

Orange sparks cascaded down through the air. Slowly, the light dissipated but soon after, another firework entered the night sky. Blue, red, yellow, green, purple, and indigo fireworks decorated the inky sky, casting their glows against the faces of the spectators.

"Oya oya? It looks like they started without us, Chrome."

"Hai, Mukuro-sama."

"Oh, you're here. Thanks for the help, you boosted our sales greatly." Tsuna looked at the new arrivals gratefully.

"No problem." Mukuro smiled, "Now you owe me."

"Yeah, yeah, another time."

"Herbivore, where is the thing you promised me?"

Tsuna turned his head to see the prefect stalking towards him. He fidgeted nervously. "We, uh, don't have anymore? We, umm, finished it without you?"

"Herbivore, you dare lie to me."

"Hiee! I didn't mean it Hibari-san! But we really don't have any, don't kill me!"

"I'll bite you to death!"

"Hiiee!"

* * *

After Tsuna had been bitten to death by the ticked-off prefect, they finally all sat down to peacefully watch the fireworks. Earsplitting cracks filled the air, accompanied by the sea of colorful patterns.

"Pretty!" Lambo gasped as one particular green firework exploded into several tiny stars.

"Wow, I could do this all the time." Yamamoto smiled as he stared at a blue firework that had transformed into a shower of rain. His arms were crossed behind his head and he was lying on his back on the ground.

"Tch. I'd only do it if Juudaime wants to." Gokudera glared at Yamamoto but turned his head to the sky just in time to see a red blast shaped like an octopus. "Oi! Was that on purpose?"

"Look at the EXTREME Sun! Is it daytime already?" Ryohei pointed to a yellow ball in the sky shaped exactly like the Sun.

"Onii-san, that's just a firework, it's still night." Tsuna wanted to add "obviously" but he thought better of it.

"Mukuro-sama, it's a pineapple." Chrome pointed a finger at a multi-colored firework shaped like a pineapple.

"Oya oya? If I ever find whoever did that, I'll kill them on the spot."

"I don't think it was on purpose, Mukuro-sama."

"Kufufu."

Tsuna rolled his head to the side to look at Hibari. "C'mon Hibari-san, cheer up and enjoy the fireworks, see? There's a canary." Tsuna gestured to a yellow bird floating through the air.

"Hn." Hibari abruptly silenced Tsuna with a glare.

Turning back to the sky, Tsuna closed his eyes and contentedly soaked in the voices of his guardians. He let out a deep breath and opened his eyes just as the finale began.

Hundreds of fireworks blossomed across the dark sky, lighting it up with various colors. Booms echoed across the land, slightly shaking the earth. All of the guardians silenced themselves to watch the show until it ended in a single pop. The final firework was an orange tuna. Subconsciously, Tsuna blushed.

He cleared his throat to break what he felt was an uncomfortable silence. "So, minna, what's your New Year's Resolution?"

Even more silence followed until they all responded in one, unified voice.

"To protect our future!"

Tsuna smiled, they stole his words, and after all, you never underestimate the Vongola.

* * *

**Fun fact: apparently, Hamburger steak is Hibari's favorite food.**

**Hanabi: Firework(s)**

* * *

_Do you want to hear a scary story?_

_Once there was a woman who loved flowers. She grew them in her garden and had them decorating her house. Once day, she fell sick and had to go to the hospital. Apparently, her disease was incurable so she died no matter what the doctors did to save her. That night, there was a security guard walking through the hallways at night. Suddenly, he heard a faint "Psst" accompanied by the smell of flowers. He shrugged it off and resumed his patrolling. Not long after, he heard another "Psst" and the smell of flowers. Then, he remembered the flower-loving woman who had died earlier that day. He began to quickly walk down the hallway. Again he heard a "Psst" but louder and the smell of flowers grew stronger. He broke into a run until he got to the door and stopped to open it. But then, he heard another "Psst" right above him and the smell of flowers was overwhelming. Slowly, he looked up and saw… an air freshener._

* * *

**Tempesta: Storm**

**Sole: Sun**

**Pioggia: Rain**

**Nuvola: Cloud**

**Fulmine: Lightning**

**The fletching is the thing that pokes out at the tail of the arrow, king of like a flag.**

**Shajiku no Ame: Axle of Rain- The first offensive form of Shigure Soen Ryu. Yamamoto uses this technique by covering his sword in Rain flames then charging with a thrust to impale a target.**

**Lupo Canale: Wolf Channel **

**Ghepardo Canle: Cheetah Channel**

* * *

**Hey everyone, how's it going? Anyways, sorry for the late-ish update, I got caught up in the mess of cleaning and playing with new toys OTL. I swear that these chapters are getting longer. **

**Now, I realize that my following words will for the most part fall on deaf ears (or whatever that phrase is), but listen, if you ever want to create a story like mine, before you even press that 'post new story' button, think again and create an original story, something that you actually took the time to think of. It really angers me to see a fic that is **_**EXACTLY LIKE MINE. **_

**Readers, reviewers, thank you for reading through my rants. Sometimes, you just gotta let it out right?**

**I've used some quotes from the manga. Do you think you can find them? And, was Mukuro sadistic enough?**

**Ciao!**


	20. Chapter 16: Whispers of the Past

Chapter 16: Whispers of the Past

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

**A/N: Hey, hey, Oozora here! Sorry to keep you all waiting but I finally got the chapter out! It's not that I'm busy (actually I am) or anything, it's just that I couldn't find the right way to have Mukuro and Tsuna fight. Let's hope it turned out okay. **

ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ

**Now, on with the show!**

* * *

_World 20- Far Sparire_

_(Vanish)_

"Kufufu." Mukuro laughed, pushing himself up with his hands, and then grabbing his trident. "I might actually have a hard time killing you, Oozora."

"You can try." Tsuna's expression was carefully blank.

"I won't have to try. You simply can't escape your fate." Mukuro let his words hang as he finally recovered. His eye switched to the kanji '3' and snakes began to fall from the treetops.

"I showed you my power once, but it's not the same. I've gotten stronger, and I'll use my strength to crush this world and everything in it. After that, when I'm back in the real world, I'll destroy all the other virtual games out there."

The snakes lunged, fangs bared with saliva dripping from their pointy tips. When the liquid touched the ground, upon contact, it hissed and burnt a hole through the earth.

"Those are genuine poisonous snakes. If you don't believe me, try getting bitten by one." Mukuro smirked, lazily twirling his weapon.

Tsuna leaned to the right as one snake came hurling towards his head then he jumped back as another came at him from the side. When another began to head right to his neck, he shot flames out of his hands and burnt it into a crisp.

He staggered forward as he felt something sharp slice across his cheek. Bringing a finger up to his face, he wiped something wet off of himself. Blood. Suddenly, he felt slightly light-headed.

He cast a blurry glance in front of him where another snake was silently creeping closer. The snake must have nicked him with its fang. Lovely. He would need to end this fast if he didn't want the poison to spread throughout his body. The last time he checked his inventory, he didn't have any antidotes.

With a slight flick of his wrist, he sent a dagger flying in the snake's direction, pinning it to the ground by its throat, effectively killing it.

"Oya? That wasn't very nice, Oozora. This skill is from the Third Path, the Realm of Beasts, you're killing real snakes."

"Nothing is real in this virtual world, Mukuro. It seems like our friendship was fake too, wasn't it?" Tsuna glared angrily, fisting up his hands.

"An interesting way to put things." Mukuro shrugged but momentarily, an emotion that looked something akin to hurt flashed through his eyes. "I suppose the Third Path won't work on you. Shall we try something else?"

An indigo flame enveloped Mukuro's red eye, which switched to the kanji '4'. "This is the Fourth Path, the Realm of Demons. See this?" He pointed to the glowing flame around his eye. "It's the aura of hand-to-hand combat emitted from this path. Basically, it enhances my fighting strength."

"That doesn't matter, I will beat you like my life depends on it." Tsuna remained strong, falling back into a defensive stance.

"But your life does depend on it." Mukuro smirked. Within the next second, he had disappeared then reappeared behind Tsuna.

The blond's eyes widened as he began to turn around. But it was too late. He felt sharp pain in his side and bright red flecks of blood spun through the air. He winced and his hand immediately went to his side to stop the blood from flowing. It was only a cut, but a pretty deep one at that. He had to be more careful.

"Kufufu, fight me with all you got, Oozora." Mukuro whispered then leaped back and held up his trident for another attack.

Tsuna slipped a dagger into his hand and threw it at Mukuro to temporarily distract his opponent. Right before the metal clanged against metal, Tsuna pushed flames out of his hands and rocketed over to Mukuro, sending a flaming punch in his face.

"Guh." Mukuro was sent skidding backwards but he used the butt of his trident to slow him to a stop. He used his sleeve to wipe blood from his mouth. "Not bad, but you'll have to try harder to beat me."

"I wasn't even a full strength." Tsuna replied and caught his dagger between two fingers and flicked it back into his sleeve. He aimed another flame-powered punch at Mukuro, sending him flying back into another tree. The tree splintered and chips flew everywhere as Mukuro ungraciously crashed into it.

He had some trouble getting back up but when he did, he laughed. "I'd rather not use it but it seems to be one of my only choices left. Among the Six Paths, I think it is the most ugliest and dangerous path. I am not being cynical. Because I hate this world and its inhabitants, I hate this skill the most..."

Mukuro brought his hand up to his right eye and with a loud squelch; he dug his fingers into his eye. Blood immediately began to flow freely from it.

Tsuna winced again as he touched his own wound, sticky with the red liquid.

When Mukuro brought his hand back down, it looked like he was crying blood. In his eye, sat the kanji '5'. "…Because it is also the most dangerous path."

Tsuna watched in horror as dark blue-ish black lines branched out across the left side of Mukuro's body, covering his hand and stretching all the way up to his neck. Thin red veins pulsed in the whites of his right eye which had become pure black except for the kanji '5'. His left eye, meanwhile, had taken on the appearance of a reptilian eye.

"Surprised right?" Mukuro sneered, "This is what we truly are. The Fifth Path embodies the human soul. It's ugly, gruesome even, but it's the truth. As long as there is one soul—dark enough to taint the purest of the white—we, as one, will always look like this."

A black aura began to leak out from Mukuro's body, swathing him with a dark glow.

"Do you see it? When a fighter emits an aura from their fighting spirit, it represents a burst of their fighting spirit. In other words…" Mukuro vanished. By the time he reappeared which was only a split second later, he was right on top of Tsuna with his trident ready to slam down on the blond's head.

"…THEIR STRENGTH!"

Tsuna brought both hands up to block the fall of the trident but to his surprise, there was barely any force acting against him.

Mukuro smirked. He used the opportunity to catch Tsuna off guard and slammed a fist into the blond's stomach, sending him flying into the air.

"Gwah!" Tsuna felt the air leave his body, making him painfully gasp for breath.

"You and I… The difference between us in insurmountable." Mukuro swung his fist again, catching Tsuna on the chin.

Tsuna rocketed backwards, crashing into a tree that snapped cleanly in half under the pressure.

"Kuhahaha! How pathetic, how do you intend to beat me like this?"

For a second, there was no response until a powerful blast of orange flames lighted up the clearing. Shakily, Tsuna pushed himself up. He cupped his side where blood was still leaking from his cut but he gave Mukuro a defiant glare.

"Even if I'm dying, I won't give up!"

Mukuro grinned sadistically. "Kufufufufu. I am going to have so much fun with you."

* * *

**A/N: This is by far my shortest chapter ever…I think. But I hope it was ok.**

**I'll give you bunnies if you…**

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(•‿•) (•‿•) **REVIEW!~**  
/(▒)\ /(▓)\


	21. Chapter 17: Resolution

Chapter 17: Resolution

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

* * *

_World 20- Far Sparire_

_(Vanish)_

Mukuro lunged, his trident posed to strike. But before he could land a hit, a gloved hand came flashing up, catching the long, sleek metal. For a second, nothing happened but when orange flames came pouring out of the hand, the trident began to melt. A few seconds later, it had been broken in half.

"Tch." Mukuro clicked his tongue. Stupid weapon. He'd have to get a new one after this whole ordeal was over. He threw away the part he was still holding—the useless butt of the weapon—and tried to make a grab for the part with the three spears.

Shaking his finger in a mocking way, Tsuna caught it and held it away from Mukuro, out of his reach. "Sorry, but I can't let you have it."

"Hmph, I don't need that pathetic thing anyways. I can defeat you without it."

Shrugging, Tsuna sent the top part of the trident into a tree where the three prongs lodged themselves into the wood.

"Ku." Mukuro smiled sinisterly. "Just watch."

A demonic shadow detached itself from Mukuro's body and headed towards Tsuna. Its hands were outstretched with long claws and a grin was stretched widely on his face.

"It's just an illusion." Tsuna muttered. "That isn't real." Knowing that it would do no harm, Tsuna planted himself on the ground, not budging from his spot.

Mukuro sneered.

"Gah!" Tsuna staggered backwards when a hard blow came at him. He clutched his eye painfully. He could feel sticky blood dripping down his cheek. The funny thing was, the shadow passed through him harmlessly.

Through blurred vision, he could see stones lying on the ground covered in blood. He knew that it was from the blood dripping down his face as none had yet to fall.

'_How dirty, hiding rocks in an illusion.'_ Tsuna thought angrily. He grinded his teeth in frustration, he wouldn't get tricked like that again.

Suddenly, a booted foot came crashing into him, catching him off guard. Rubbing the blood out of his eyes, he wearily glanced behind himself to see if he could stop any possible impacts against a tree.

But, his eyes widened as he saw the unfortunate tree he would soon be crashing in to.

From a distance, it didn't look sharp at all. But as he inched closer, he could see the pointed, melted end of the trident, right where it broke off from the second half, gleam happily at him, waiting to pierce his body.

He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the impact…but when none came, he uncertainly opened one eye.

"Juudaime, are you okay?"

Tsuna gasped. "Gokudera-kun! You're okay!"

Gokudera puffed out his chest. "Of course I am, that b*stard stood no chance against me!"

A happy chuckle drew Tsuna's attention away from Gokudera.

"Yo! I guess I lost then, huh, Gokudera?"

"Yamamoto!" Tsuna cried, "Lambo!"

"What are you talking about, Sword-freak?" Gokudera growled angrily.

"Huh? Weren't we playing Hide-and-Seek?"

"No you idiot!"

"Eto, could you set me down now?" Tsuna tapped Gokudera's shoulder lightly.

"Ah! I'm so sorry Juudaime! I didn't know you were so uncomfortable!" Gokudera hastily set Tsuna down from carrying him bridal style.

The blond shook his head. "No, no Gokudera-kun, it's not that…" Clearing his throat, he said: "It's just that I have a…battle to get back to."

Gokudera swiveled his head to the side and glared at Mukuro. "Who are you and what do you want. If you lay even as much as a finger on Juudaime, I'll blast you to pieces!"

Yamamoto's eyes narrowed considerable. "Is this the enemy, Tsuna?"

"Tsuna-nii, do you want me to dispose of this…thing…for you?" Lambo yawned.

Mukuro's eye twitched. "Thing? I am _not_ a _thing_."

"Then what do you want me to call you? A pineapple?" Lambo lazily scratched his head.

A vein began to pulse in Mukuro's forehead. "What did you just call me?"

"A pineapple." Lambo scratched his head even more.

"How. Dare. You. Call. Me. That. I. Am. Not. A. PINEAPPLE!" Mukuro lunged at Lambo, his eyes wide with anger.

"Yes you are. Have you ever _looked_ in the mirror?" Lambo's hand paused mid-scratch. When he brought it away from his head, there was a pink grenade in it. Pulling the string, Lambo threw it at Mukuro.

It exploded right in Mukuro's face.

"Go Tsuna-nii!" Lambo shouted.

Tsuna leaped forward and pushed flames out from his gloves. They engulfed the whole cloud of smoke and swirled angrily like a tornado. When they cleared, leaving a thin veil of steam behind, Mukuro was lying on the ground.

"Guh." He struggled to push himself up only to fall back down. "Kufufu. So this is the famous Oozora. The man who defeated me."

Tsuna stared blankly at Mukuro's form.

"Kill me. If I die, I'll probably never come back. The Estraneo erased me from this game you know. Logging out is impossible and no one can be trusted to help."

Tsuna clenched his teeth and fists. Looking away, he dropped his hands and let them hang by his side. "I…can't do that."

A grin stretched across Mukuro's face but Tsuna didn't catch it.

"Watch out Juudaime!"

"Tsuna, look out!"

"Tsuna-nii!"

Tsuna whipped his head up but it was too late. Behind him, Mukuro grabbed his arms and held them behind his back.

"You're risking your own life if you take things so easily." Mukuro whispered in Tsuna's ear.

"Mukuro, you…!"

Tsuna struggled against his grip, trying to get his hands free from Mukuro's hold.

"Oya? I know that your strange skill is due to the power of the flame on your hands. As long as I have your arms, you are defenseless."

"Let go of Juudaime!" Gokudera came running forward, his bombs between each of his fingers.

"S-stay out of this!" Tsuna shouted. "This is my fight!"

"J-Juudaime?" Gokudera immediately stopped in his tracks, a startled look in his eyes.

"This is my fight." Tsuna repeated, "don't interfere."

"H-hai." Gokudera nodded weakly.

Tsuna felt bad for yelling at Gokudera but it was true, he was the cause of this mess and it was his duty to fix it.

Mukuro pushed one of his arms in the wrong direction. Tsuna could feel his bone on the verge of breaking but thankfully, it didn't. But there was no time for relief.

Mukuro landed a hard kick against Tsuna's back, sending his flying yet again.

Tsuna watched the hazy images of his friends cry out for him in worry. Through the corner of his eye, he caught the sharp gleam of the trident behind him yet again. He let his friends' cries echo through his ears and closed his eyes.

When he reopened them, flames erupted from his hands and pushed him away from getting impaled by mere centimeters by the trident's end. He landed lightly on the ground, unharmed.

"What—!?"

Not letting the flames stop, Tsuna rocketed to where the startled Mukuro was standing and grabbed his head with a flaming hand.

"Ahhh!" Mukuro screamed in agony as the flames connected with his face. Slowly, the black lines etched across his body began to recede and his left eye faded back into its normal navy blue color. Slowly, he pain-filled screams dwindled into soft whimpers. The dark aura surrounding Mukuro's body began to fade away.

Tsuna pushed Mukuro into tree after tree, each snapping like toothpicks. He finally crashed into one and Tsuna stopped. Mukuro's body crumpled to the ground, Tsuna crouched over him, his hands still covered in flames.

Gradually, the mist swathing the clearing began to dissolve. The soft, calming touch of moonlight finally reached the ground and cast a soothing glow. Hushed chatters of wild beast began to fill the forest. All together, Foresta Scomparendo seemed almost normal.

Tsuna stood up and looked sadly at his old friend's defeated form. Atop his head, the pure orange flame began to dissipate and his orange eyes regained their normal golden hue.

"K-Kiri…" The blond whispered sorrowfully.

He remained staring at his past friend once more before turning his head and walking away. But, before he could get very far, a weak chuckle stopped him in his tracks.

"Why?"

Tsuna turned around and locked eyes with Mukuro's. "What do you mean?"

"Why did you leave us to waste away there? Why didn't you come back? We trusted you."

Tsuna shook his head wretchedly. "I came back, I never forgot about you. But by the time I arrived, everything was gone."

"You left us there for months! What could have taken so long, what was more important than saving your friends whom you shared your troubles with, who supported you, who cared for you, who helped you, and most of all, who thought of you as family?"

Tsuna looked away shamefully and stared at the night sky. Stars were twinkling innocently, as if suspended in time, as if they knew nothing of the world they shined for.

"I needed help to save you. Not just random players, but actual game creators, the ones who run the game. Normal players can't prevent a whole guild from killing others, especially low-leveled ones that I only had access to. I was only level one at the time, I couldn't get to any other worlds where stronger players were."

Mukuro laughed bitterly. "I suppose that's why the Estraneo were in Avvaimento, it's so only weak, worthless players like us could be experimented on and then grow stronger from the very start."

"Yeah, I suppose. By the time the moderators entered the game, a long time had past. After all, it wasn't the top problem on their list. I tried to make them hurry but it was no use. When we arrived at where the Estraneo guild was supposed to be, only ruins and bloodstains were left."

Mukuro smiled weakly. "I'd have to apologize for that. When they finished experimenting The Six Paths of Hell on me, I finally had enough power to break away. And…and Nagi was dying."

"Kirisame? What happened to her?" Tsuna demanded, suddenly worried.

"It seemed like she was also compatible with The Six Paths of Hell experiment but in the end, she didn't make it through the whole thing. Her organs—believe it or not—began to disappear. Probably from the game system rejecting everything that was done to her avatar. Even so, they didn't stop. We were in the lab together so I had to watch it all. At that point, I broke free and I…I killed everyone. After that, we escaped."

"But once you left the Estraneo, why didn't you log off? And where is Kirisame now?"

Mukuro laughed. "You should know that right? We weren't real players of Sette Fiamme Mondiale anymore. Our information was erased from the game system. We didn't exist so we couldn't log out. And I've got Nagi some place where people can't hurt her."

"Ah, yeah, I remember." Tsuna blushed. How could he forget something like that? "But why didn't you ask for help? I had an admin contact the moderators for me."

"We couldn't trust anyone." Mukuro's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Not after all the backstabbing we had gone through.

Tsuna felt like a needle had pierced his heart. "That was my fault wasn't it?"

Mukuro closed his eyes and let out a sardonic laugh. "Why am I talking to you? I wanted to kill you. I-I _hated_ you."

"I won't object, Mukuro. You must have good reasons for loathing me. But, let me help you now. I'll get you out of here. I would never betray my friend."

Mukuro adopted a thoughtful expression. "After hearing your side of the story, I've decided to give you one chance. If you end up going back on your word, I'll kill you."

It was Tsuna's first smile of the day. Bending down, Tsuna outstretched his hand to help pull Mukuro back to his feet. Quickly, Tsuna got a healing potion out from his inventory and handed it to Mukuro who drank it wearily.

"Shall we go?" Tsuna asked cheerfully."

"Yeah, but don't leave Ken and Chikusa behind."

"Of course not, and I'll try to get someone to help Kirisame too."

Mukuro smiled albeit a little reluctantly. He wasn't quite the Kiri that Tsuna remembered but this was good enough.

"Say, Kiri, would you like to join my party? It's called the Vongola X."

Mukuro's eyes widened at the mention of his player name and this time, he really did smile. "Okay, but promise me you'll get me a new trident. It needs to be top notch."

Tsuna rolled his eyes. With a deep sigh, he answered. "Yeah, yeah. It's a promise."

* * *

_Sitting on the bark of a rotting tree, lay three wasps. Their beady eyes were carefully watching the exchange between the blond and the blue-haired teen._

_When the blond pulled the other up, he glanced to the side and stared at the exact spot where the wasps lay. But as soon as it came, it was gone and he went back to cheerfully talking with the other._

_As the two friends started walking away, the three wasps slowly peeled themselves off from the tree's trunk and quietly buzzed away._

* * *

_**Far Sparire- Vanish: The 20****th**** world**_

**Foresta Scomparendo: Disappearing Forest**

**Avvaimento- Start: The 1****st**** world**

**A/N: Well dear readers, I hope you were satisfied with this chapter. It didn't leave anything unanswered did it? If it did, just leave it in a review or PM me and I'll make sure to fill in the holes.**

**On another note, I hope you didn't forget the poll about the Shimon in SFM. If so, those who voted yes…well, congratz because the Shimon will make an appearance!**

**Y'know, I just had a thought, most of you will be watching the Super Bowl won't you? Oh well.**

**If you enjoyed the chapter, leave your thoughts in a review! Ciao Ciao!**


	22. Chapter 18: Sunny Day

Chapter 18: Sunny Day

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

**A/N: Yo dear readers, I can't believe this but there's this part I forgot to add to the last chapter. I'll put it here now because you probably don't want to go back to the previous chapter to read it. Anyways, here it is.**

* * *

Sitting on the bark of a rotting tree, lay three wasps. Their beady eyes were carefully watching the exchange between the blond and the blue-haired teen.

When the blond pulled the other up, he glanced to the side and stared at the exact spot where the wasps lay. But as soon as it came, it was gone and he went back to cheerfully talking with the other.

As the two friends started walking away, the three wasps slowly peeled themselves off from the tree's trunk and quietly buzzed away.

* * *

_World 20- Far Sparire_

_(Vanish)_

As soon as Tsuna and Mukuro reunited with the others, a tonfa whizzed through the air, missing Tsuna's head by mere inches, and then lodging itself in the trunk of a tree.

Tsuna nervously gulped and looked uncertainly at Hibari who was leaning precariously against Gokudera, panting hard. By the look on his face, Tsuna could tell that he was either extremely unhappy about having someone else help him stand or he was unsatisfied about his fight. Probably both. Either way, his pride had been damaged.

"Herbivore." His tone was laced with untold pain and suffering.

"Y-yes H-Hibari-san?" Tsuna stuttered nervously.

"What are you doing with that Pineapple-head?"

Mukuro's eye twitched but he didn't make a move.

Tsuna's gaze shifted over to Mukuro's ticked-off face uneasily. He cleared his throat. "E-eto minna, this is my friend Mukuro his player name is Kiri. He's now a member of Vongola X."

"But Juudaime, I thought you were fighting with each other a few minutes ago."

"Uhh…well yeah…but we made up." Tsuna smiled weakly, knowing that his friends would most likely doubt his words.

Gokudera looked at him dubiously then shot a deathly glare at Mukuro. "Lay even a finger on Juudaime and I'll blast you to pieces."

"Oya oya? Didn't you use that threat on me already? It's getting old." Mukuro sneered back and tauntingly draped on arm around Tsuna's shoulder.

Gokudera's scowl deepened. "Teme—!"

"Maa, maa Gokudera. I'm sure Tsuna has his reasons." He patted Gokudera reassuringly then stepped up to greet Mukuro. "Nice to meet ya! The name's Yamamoto Takeshi. My player name is Ame."

"Kufufu, the Sword Emperor? Nice to meet you too." Mukuro accepted Yamamoto's hand and shook it pleasantly.

"See Gokudera? No harm done."

"Tch."

"Um, that's Gokudera Hayato. His player name is Arashi." Tsuna spoke up, earning a grunt from the said person.

"Tsuna-nii, don't forget about Lambo-san!" Lambo pouted unhappily. "I'm Lambo Bovino, my player name is Kaminari! Lambo-san likes to eat candy and ice cream and my favorite flavor is grape."

Mukuro rose a skeptical brow. "Does ice cream come in grape flavor?"

"Yes!" Lambo puffed out his cheeks angrily.

"And there's Hibari Kyoya, his player name is Kumo but you probably already know about him right?" Tsuna asked, knowing that Mukuro had done a few background checks on them.

Mukuro nodded stiffly. "What happened to Ken and Chikusa?"

Tsuna shrugged helplessly. "You sent them off, probably to battle Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto. Am I right?"

Mukuro shook his head in faint amusement. "Of course you would figure that out Oozora. As expected."

"Call me Tsuna, I think it's about time to leave our past behind."

Mukuro narrowed his eyes in thought. "Tsunayoshi sounds better."

Little did they know that the other three were getting suspicious about this "friendship" and "past."

"Tsuna shrugged. "That's fine too."

"So, Ken and Chikusa?"

"Haha! Are you talking about that cosplayer? He was really good you know. First he was a wolf and then I think he switched over to a gorilla…unless it was the other way around." Yamamoto laughed.

"Yamamoto, I don't think he was a cosplayer…" Tsuna facepalmed. "That was probably Dobutsu…err…Ken."

Mukuro nodded. "Is he still alive."

"Ask Lambo!" Yamamoto supplied. "Lambo should know."

"Eh? Don't talk about Lambo-san behind Lambo-san's back Sword-freak!" Lambo frowned.

"No, no Lambo. We were just wondering about what happened to that player you were fighting earlier today." Tsuna soothed, bending down to pat the child on his head.

Lambo grimaced. "Lambo-san fried it—well done—because Lambo-san wanted pork. But when Lambo-san tried to eat it, it was still alive at hit Lambo-san on the head!"

Tsuna almost facepalmed again but he stopped himself. "Well Mukuro, you got your answer, he's still alive."

"And what about Chikusa?" Mukuro pressed.

"If you're talking about that Four-eyes, I left him somewhere in this forest. He's alive so stop bothering Juudaime."

"Kufufu, I can do what I please. You have no command over me. The only one I will listen to is Tsunayoshi but that's all." Mukuro smiled with fake kindness in a mocking manner.

Tsuna cleared his throat. "Should we go retrieve your wayward family now, Mukuro?"

* * *

To say that the reunion was awkward would be an understatement.

Ken was very…animal-ish (smacking Tsuna on the head a few times), then hostile, then just plain old Ken. Chikusa was very nonchalant about everything, as always…other than giving Tsuna needle in the arm as minor revenge.

Meanwhile, Gokudera was flipping out over the mistreatment of his 'Juudaime' while Yamamoto was trying in vain to calm him down.

Hibari, on the other hand was nowhere to be seen.

"Tsunayoshi." Mukuro tapped his boot impatiently. "Nagi?"

"Oh! Don't worry, I didn't forget. Lead us to her." Tsuna glanced at the others. "Do you want it just to be us? Or is it ok if my friends come?"

"They can come." Mukuro responded after going through a mental battle. "As long as they don't get in the way." He began to lead them out of the forest and into a small town nearby. The town seemed half-deserted but otherwise pretty normal.

"This way." They entered a normal-looking house. It was dark but as soon as the first person walked in, the lights flickered on.

Tsuna's eyes immediately flew over to the couch where Kirisame or Nagi was lying. Her breathing was labored, sweat was trickling down her face over her flushed cheeks, and one eye had dried blood caked around it.

His stomach clenched at the state she was in. He rounded on Mukuro angrily. "Why didn't you do anything? She's dying!"

Mukuro turned his head away shamefully. "I've explained already. There's no need for me to repeat myself."

Tsuna sighed. "I'm sorry, I lost my temper." He cleared his throat. "Anyways, I'll contact the admin who helped me after I escaped from the Estraneo. Give me a second."

Tsuna stepped off to the side while Mukuro, Ken, and Chikusa comforted Nagi. The others sans Hibari stood silently off to the side, not knowing if they should do anything to help.

"_Hello?"_ A foreign voice to their ears answered Tsuna's call.

"Ah, Basilicum. Long time no hear huh? How are you?"

"_Oozora-dono! It's nice to hear from thou again. I am doing well, I expect thou are too?"_

"Yeah, but I have another favor to ask. Do you mind?"

"_No, I will listen."_

"Alright, you know about the Estraneo incident a year or so ago?"

"_Hai."_

"Well, I've found a few of my friends and their bugs need to be fixed. Do you mind coming over? We're in Far Sparire in the town west of Foresta Scomparendo."

"_Hai, I will be there right away."_

"Thanks Basilicum." With one click, Tsuna hung up. "Well minna, my friend will be over soon. Why don't we just sit tight and relax for now, huh?"

6 heads nodded in sync.

"Alright. I bet everyone's tired. Mukuro, do you have any food so we can replenish our energy?"

The corner of Chikusa's mouth twitched while Ken's face seemed to grow a hint of embarrassment. But Chikusa answered. "We have candy. Does anyone like chocolate?"

Gokudera snapped. "B*stards! Are you going to let Juudaime starve? Get something nutritional! Juudaime is a growing boy and needs to grow taller!"

Tsuna flushed a bright red. "Gokudera-kun! Are you saying I'm short? And this is just a game, not real life!"

"But Juudaime, you need to eat healthy. Statistics show that the average person who eats one 10 cups of greens every day grows by about 5% faster than someone who only eats a tiny salad every week."

"Gokudera-kun!"

"Forgive my impoliteness Juudaime!" He bowed stiffly several times.

"T-that's enough Gokudera-kun, no need to punish yourself." Tsuna said, gesturing in a placating manner.

"Hai, Juudaime!"

"You've really found yourself a loyal puppy, Tsunayoshi." Mukuro smiled mockingly.

"Urusai!"

Everyone laughed cheerfully.

But before they could fully enjoy the moment, a loud voice interrupted them.

"EEXXTREEEEMEE FAMILY TIME I SEE!"

Everyone covered their ears in hopes that they wouldn't go deaf.

The door was slammed open to reveal a teenager with bright red hair and sparkling yellow eyes. "MY NAME IS HARE. NICE TO MEET YOU!"

**A/N: It's pronounced Hah-ray for those who don't know. (Not hair)**

"Oi! Don't just come barging in here! Knock!" Ken growled, eyes glaring fiercely.

"I'M EXTREMELY SORRY!" The player responded loudly, not even stopping to consider an 'inside voice'.

"Eh? Senpai? Aren't you from the Boxing Club?" Yamamoto piped up curiously.

"Ohh! YOU ARE EXTREMELY IN THE BASEBALL CLUB!"

"Haha! Yep, I'm Yamamoto Takeshi."

"EXTREMELY NICE TO MEET YOU!" Hare cried, stomping into the house to shake all of their hands. When he got to Tsuna, the poor blond was shaken from head to toe. When it stopped, Hare looked at Tsuna closely.

"AH! Are you the EXTREME Oozora that everyone is talking about?"

Tsuna shook his head in order to get the stars out of his eyes. "Uhm yeah?"

"LET'S HAVE AN EXTREME BOXING MATCH!" Hare cheered, pumping his fists excitedly. Then, he grabbed Tsuna's hands and rushed out the door.

"Hiiee!" Tsuna sobbed, madly trying to keep up with the hyperactive boxer but ending up failing in the end as he tripped over a rock and faceplanted into the dust.

"OH? WHERE DID OOZORA GO?" Hare shouted, looked around crazily.

"H-Hare-san." Tsuna replied weakly. "I-I'm d-down here."

"HAHAHA! Enjoying Mother Nature I see. Sounds EXTREME!" And so, for some strange reason, Hare fell face-first into the ground just like Tsuna.

"Teme! What do you think you're doing with Juudaime?" Gokudera finally caught up to the pair.

"Oh, Tako-head, would you like to EXTREMELY join us?"

Gokudera's eye twitched and he took out a few sticks of dynamite. "Tako-head? I do not look like an octopus!" He took a few angry steps forward then stopped when he stepped on something…squishy. "Huh?"

"G-Gokudera-kun…"

"GAAAH! Juudaime are you okay?" Gokudera exclaimed worriedly. "I'm so sorry! I didn't see you." He bent down and helped his boss get back to his feet.

"I-I'm okay, thanks Gokudera-kun." Tsuna winced, rubbing where Gokudera stepped on his back.

"Please forgive me Juudaime. I will do anything to atone for my—"

"It's fine Gokudera-kun."

"Hai, Juudaime."

"YOU TWO ARE EXTREME! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A BOXING MATCH!"

"Hare-san, you already said that."

"YOSH! THEN LET'S FIGHT LIKE MEN!"

"Men?" Tsuna shook his head exasperatedly. "I don't box, I never have."

"EXTREMELY FIGHT WITH YOUR FISTS." Hare answered loudly, making Tsuna and Gokudera cringe at his volume.

Suddenly, a shriek drew their attention away and made them look over to the edge of the forest where a pack of Fantasmi were straying from their territory after being attracted by the loud noises coming from the town.

"Juudaime, shall I blast them to pieces for you?"

"I don't think you can take all of them on Gokudera-kun. I'll help and I'm sure Hare-san will too."

"Hai Juudaime."

"EXTREME GHOSTS!" Hare's eyes flamed with anticipation. He dashed forward to meet the first one. He drew back his fist and as soon as he was in range, he threw his arm forward in a punch. But when his hand connected with the Fantasmi, it harmlessly passed through.

Unfazed, Hare started to swipe with one hand, the other closely guarding his face. His yellow eyes were semi-narrowed with focus. When a Fantasmi lashed out, he would weave under and return a hit, only to have it pass through again.

Tsuna gasped at Hare's apparent skill in hand-to-hand combat. That must have meant he was in the Sole class.

"What is EXTREMELY wrong with these things?" Hare shouted to them.

"They're Fantasmi, normal combat doesn't affect them, idiot." Gokudera yelled back.

"I EXTREMELY don't get it!" Hare harmlessly passed through another.

"I got it!" Tsuna jumped into the fray, slicing one in half with a flame-coated sword. When one approached him from behind, Gokudera called out to him.

"Juudaime, duck!" Gokudera tossed dynamite into the Fantasmi's mouth. Within a few seconds, it exploded, taking the monster with it.

"Thanks Gokudera-kun." Tsuna smiled then returned to slicing the ghosts into tiny pieces. Soon, all of them had been defeated and on the ground lay a few drops.

"Oh look, it's Fantasmi slime!" Tsuna cheered, sticking one finger into the blue-ish-green goo. "It's supposed to be a rare item used to raise the defense and dexterity of your weapon."

"In that case, Juudaime, I think you should have it. You use swords and daggers, correct?"

"Yes. But Hare-san, do you need it?"

"NO, BUT EXTREME THANKS." Hare replied, waving his boxing mitts.

"Umm, you could use it one those…"

"No I can't." Hare deadpanned.

"As long as it's something you use to fight you can."

"Oh."

"…"

"I EXTREMELY DON'T GET IT!"

Tsuna sighed. "Hare-san—"

"YOU CAN EXTREMELY CALL ME ONII-SAN!"

"O-onii-san?"

"BECAUSE YOU EXTREMELY REMIND ME OF KYOKO!"

Tsuna flushed red. "K-Kyoko-chan?"

"OH? Do you know Kyoko? She's my little sister, I'm Sasagawa Ryohei."

Tsuna fidgeted with his collar. "She's in my class…"

"Oh, Tsuna! We heard fighting, are you alright?" Yamamoto came running over with Lambo closely following.

'_I'm saved!' _Tsuna thought, relieved. "Yeah, just some monsters. Nothing to worry about."

"Haha, that's good. Oh, what's that?" Yamamoto walked over to the pile of goo.

"A drop, do you want it? It strengthens your weapons." Tsuna answered.

"Really?" Yamamoto looked like a little kid on his birthday. "I can have it?"

"Sure." Tsuna shrugged.

"Haha, thanks Tsuna!" Yamamoto carefully put it into his inventory. "Oh, and by the way, that admin arrived. He's wondering where you are."

"That fast? Alright, thanks Yamamoto." Tsuna gestured for them to head back. They all did, including Ryohei.

Shortly after, the arrived back at Mukuro's little house to find Basilicum reading through a few web pages, glancing back and forth between them and Nagi.

When Tsuna walked through the door, he looked up. "Oh! Oozora-dono, it's good to see thou again."

"Same here Basilicum." Tsuna smiled, "Is everything going all right?"

"Yes, I have found the problem. Thee's avatar has been bugged; causing thee's system to slowly fall apart. It's nothing to worry about, I can fix it if given time."

"Thanks Basilicum. Is there anything that I can do for you in return?"

"Not at all Oozora-dono." Basilicum shook his head. "But I must tell thy something."

Tsuna grew slightly worried. "Go on."

Basilicum turned away from Nagi and his light blue eyes grew serious. "Oozora-dono, I have a message from thou'st father."

* * *

Far Saprire- Vanish: The 20th world

Foresta Scomparendo: Disappearing Forest

Fantasmi: Ghosts

Character Profiles: Sasagawa Ryohei is a teenager who attends Namimori Chuu. He has a younger sister named Sasagawa Kyoko who is in the same class as Tsuna. In the real world, he has silver/white hair and honey-colored eyes with a scar running past his left eye. He is the head of the Boxing Club. In the virtual world, he has bright-red hair and bright-yellow eyes. He wears a normal T-shirt with boxing pants. He tends to wear boxing gloves wherever he goes unless reminded to take them off.

Basilicum: Not much is known about him other than that he's a part of a group of admins called CEDEF. He has light-blue hair and matching eyes. He wears a dark blue jacket over a red shirt with light-brown pants. In the real world, his name is Basil.

* * *

**A/N: Ok dear readers. Let's make a deal. I don't want to sound greedy but how about this. If I get 20+ reviews for this chapter, the next one will be out within the next day or so. On top of that, I'll update two more of my stories at the same time and I'll let you decide which ones. You can choose from A Vongola Band, Kanōsei, Accademia della Mafia, and The Flame of Two Skies. Remember, only two of them. (The popular vote will be taken).**

**Happy Chinese New Year to Chinese readers out there!**

**Ciao Ciao!**

**-OnH**


	23. Chapter 19: Amends

Chapter 19: Amends

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

**A/N: All right, a little heads up. I changed some events around in previous chapters but you don't have to go back and look. It's mainly about that competition mentioned in chapter 4. Its been changed to a Ring Battle where parties of 7 fight for a set of rings. These rings are replicas of the original set worn by the bosses of SFM. The party to win gets the set of rings.**

* * *

_World 20- Far Spaire_

_(Vanish)_

"_Oozora-dono, I have a message from thou'st father."_

Tsuna felt his heart sink. "T-Tou-san?"

"Hai, thy wants to meet you in World 28: Divertimento."

"That's all?"

"Well, thou must get there right away."

"Oh, alright, thanks Basilicum."

"I was only carrying out orders, Oozora-dono." Basilicum replied politelty.

"Orders?"

Basilicum waved a hand, "I must tend to thy now, thou should go soon."

Tsuna glanced at Nagi, "Are you sure she'll be alright?"

"Hai."

"Ok, then I'm off. I'll be right back minna." Tsuna took out a transportation crystal and dropped it to the ground. A circle of blue surround his feet then shot up, enveloping his form. When it disappeared, he was gone.

Gokudera pouted. "I wanted to go with Juudaime."

"Maa, maa Gokudera, he said he'd be back soon."

"But I could be with Juudaime right now." Gokudera pointed out, glaring at Yamamoto angrily.

"Leave Tsunayoshi alone." Mukuro interjected. "He didn't ask any of us to come right? He must have a good reason." Silently he added, _'Because he himself doesn't know what going to happen.'_

* * *

In Città di Inizi, Tsuna wandered around aimlessly. Basilicum had never said an exact spot to meet his father; he had only said World 28. He didn't know where to go and the world was huge! He didn't have the time to explore every nick and cranny. Heck, he barely knew what his father looked like!

With a heavy sigh, Tsuna dropped down onto a bench next to some random person who smelled like alcohol. Jeez, he didn't even know they had alcohol in this game. He slipped one of his daggers out from his sleeve and began twirling it though his fingers. If he couldn't find his father, let his father find him.

For a few seconds, Tsuna remained lazily sitting back, twirling knives, but he got tired of it and began to practice aiming. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the dagger flying into a street lamp. As soon as it came into contact with the metal, it clanged loudly, resounding across the area.

There was an unbelievably loud snort from beside him. Tsuna shot a disgusted glare at the person sleeping beside him. Then he stopped. The man looked…familiar.

One green eye popped open and scanned its surroundings. When it landed on Tsuna, the other one opened.

"Oh! My little Tuna-fish! You're here, great timing, I was just going to go out and search for you!" The man had platinum-blond hair and forest-green eyes. He had a tiny beard growing here and there.

"Who are you?" Tsuna deadpanned.

The man frowned, then he took Tsuna's cheeks and pinched them. "Aww come on, don't you remember me? I'm your Tou-san! You used to say 'Tou-san, Tou-san, up!' Then I would lift you up and you'd giggle soooo much." He sighed. "You were so cute back then."

Tsuna blushed indignantly and rubbed his sore cheeks painfully. "And so where have you been for the other half of my life?"

"Oh, you know, Antarctica…Egypt…Australia."

"With Kaa-san?"

"Of course!" The man smiled broadly. "I've got a picture, you wanna see?"

"Not really…" Tsuna averted his eyes and stared at a piece of trash rolling along the road in the wind. "So, tell me the truth, why did you leave?"

For once, the man's eyes grew hard. "I've been working. I'm a part of CEDEF, the outside organization of Sette Fiamme Mondiale, the group of administrators who monitor the game and work alongside the game's boss."

Tsuna went unfazed. "No, seriously."

"I am serious!" He cried, "How can my own son not believe me?"

"Maybe it's because you're my father by blood, but not my real father, to me, my parents are dead and I've accepted that fact for years now." Tsuna spat angrily, standing up and walking over to the lamp where his dagger was embedded. Furiously, he yanked it out and sent it flying at his father's face. It landed in the wood, millimeters away from slicing his body.

Tsuna's father's eyes went cold. "You may not think of me as your father but at least here me out just this once. You've heard of the Ring Competition, correct?"

Tsuna nodded stiffly.

"Good, I want you to enter it and fight for the rings. Win them with the help of your Vongola X party, show me that you have the power to become the next Boss."

"I was planning on entering anyways." Tsuna replied tartly, "And what I do and become is none of your business. Don't meddle with my life, especially when you're no longer my father."

The man looked genuinely hurt now. "I know I haven't been much of a father to you, but I still am the person who raised you, who loved you, and who cared for you when you were little. Give me a chance, and I'll become the father who you've always longed for."

Tsuna went through a lengthy debate in his head. He weighed his options carefully. He shook his head. "I believe myself to be a nice person, sometimes, I wish I wasn't."

His father sighed in relief. "Thank you, Tsuna."

"But, I have one question for you. If you've been playing Sette Fiamme Mondiale this whole time, where have you been and why didn't you take me with you?"

"There are many reasons…"

Tsuna motioned for his father to continue.

"…When on orders from your boss, you can't refuse. We've been in Italy, the headquarters for the Vongola Corporation, the creators of Sette Fiamme Mondiale. I'm the second head and boss of the CEDEF as I've already told you. Your Kaa-san is my second-in-command. And for the reason why we didn't take you is because we wanted for you to grow up in a safe environment, one where we knew you'd be safe. A parent always wished for the best for their child." He added with a wink.

Tsuna shook his head. "Sure, I've been getting the best grades in my year, I'm at the top in sports, and I've made friends with everybody in the school."

"Really?"

"No."

"…Oh."

"I've got to go, I've got my friends waiting for me."

"Of course." The man smiled cheerfully. "You're Kaa-san and I will make sure to cheer for you in the competition. We admins get automatic front-row seats!"

Tsuna rolled his eyes. "Well, see you then." He took back his dagger then headed off to the nearest transporter.

From behind, he heard his father call out to him. "Just to let you know, I wasn't sure if you'd agree in entering the competition so I already put your party name in so you don't have to register anymore!"

Tsuna, who hadn't put away his dagger yet, threw it yet again at his father. It pinned him under the arm by his clothes. "Thanks Tou-san, you're so considerate."

"Hey! I could hear the sarcastic-ness in your voice. Take that back, I demand you!"

Tsuna just waved and stepped onto a stone circle. He pressed his destination on the stone column next to him. "Make sure to return my dagger next time we see each other." With that, he disappeared and returned to where he had left his friends. The talk wasn't that bad after all, sometimes, it was good to give people second chances, just like what Mukuro had done with him.

* * *

World 20-Far Sparire: Vanish

World 28- Divertimento: Enjoyment

Character profiles: Sawada Iemitsu is Tsuna's father and head of CEDEF, the organization who helps run SFM. Basilicum is his subordinate. Apparently, he taught Basilicum old-style Japanese as a joke (Basilicum is Italian). In the real world, he has blond hair and brown eyes but in the virtual world, he has platinum-blond hair and green eyes. His player class is Cielo, one of the few known ones. His player name is Giovane Leone or just Leone, which is Italian for Young Lion. He is sometimes known as 'Young Lion of the Vongola.'

* * *

**A/N: Short, I know but I promised to get this out but I didn't have time to write more especially when I typed up my other two stories. Anyways, like I promised, I did update two more of my stories, The Flame of Two Skies and Kanōsei. But, I've decided to update the other two later on in the week because I don't want to disappoint those who voted for either one of those two. Oh, and one more thing, you guys are great, you know that? We've hit the mark and gone above. For that, I thank you for taking your time to review.**

**Ciao for now!**

**-OnH**

**(P.S: I'm going to update on Thursday. It's going to be a chapter as well as a short Valentines omake at the end. I hope to see you then!)**


	24. Chapter 20: Stop and Think

Chapter 20: Stop and Think

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

* * *

When Tsuna woke up, his stomach immediately began to growl. It was the only sound in the house. Of course his father and mother couldn't make it home that quickly if they were in Italy.

Sighing, he rubbed his hungry stomach. He _had_ been playing nonstop for the past few days. School was off so he took advantage of the free time he had, ending up in playing for about 2-3 days straight.

Today was Sunday so he had to go back to school tomorrow. He might as well enjoy everything while it lasted. And anyways, his friends had wanted to get together in the real world.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he stretched his cramped limbs and yawned. Slowly, he trudged over to the bathroom where he rubbed sleep from his eyes.

Within the next half hour, he had dressed, eaten and walked out the door.

They were supposed to meet up at the playground; it wasn't too far away, thankfully. On the way there, he planned on telling them what was going to happen within the next week. First, there'd have to be some serious training going on before the destined date. Second, they'd have to find a way to work the competition between their school schedule as well as Mukuro, Nagi, and Lambo's schedule, especially when they lived in Italy.

"Juudaime!" A familiar voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna stopped walking and waited for his friend to catch up.

"Ohayo Juudaime!" Gokudera greeted cheerfully.

"Ohayo." Tsuna replied, resuming walking as soon as Gokudera had reached his side.

"Are you okay Juudaime? You look confused. If there's anything I can do to help, don't hesitate to ask me." Gokudera said, looking serious.

"Ah, no, it's nothing. I'm just…thinking." Tsuna shook his head. "When we get to the park, there's something we all need to talk about."

"Well, we're here." Gokudera replied, pointing to the small playground decorated with colorful bars, slides, and seesaws.

Tsuna looked up in surprise. "Oh! That was quick."

Yamamoto had already arrived and was pushing himself on a swing. "Yo Tsuna, Gokudera."

"Tch." Gokudera grumbled, looking away from the happy-go-luck teen.

Tsuna cleared his throat. "Well, now that we're all here. Oh wait, where's Onii-san?"

"Tch, he probably forgot. Don't worry Juudaime, he's not that important."

"Gokudera-kun, that's not nice."

"Gomen, I didn't think before speaking."

"Haha, that's Gokudera for you! Remember, always think before you speak." Yamamoto quoted, laughing heartily.

"Urusai Sword-freak!"

"I AM HERE TO THE EXTREME!" An obnoxiously loud voice filled the air, making everyone in the area cringe.

"Onii-san! Volume please." Tsuna shushed the boxer.

"I am extremely sorry Oozora."

"Don't call me Oozora here!" Tsuna hissed. "Call me Tsuna or something."

Ryohei looked deep in thought. "Ok Sawada!"

Tsuna could only shake his head in exasperation. "Well, I need to talk about…stuff concerning the next week or two and Sette Fiamme Mondiale."

Three heads nodded.

"Alright, I've entered the Vongola X in a competition involving parties from the first 50 worlds. We win a set of rings that are copies of the ones that the bosses of SFM use. But that's not important right now. I just need to know if you're all up to it. Most likely, our schedules will clash with daily lives because the competition lasts for several days."

"I'm fine with it, and I'm sure the admins are aware of gamers' daily lives. They'll most likely set up the battles in a way that we can all fight at some point without having to miss something in the real world." Gokudera rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Haha! Same here! I'm all clear. Baseball is out of season right now and I don't have anything else going on."

"I can EXTREMELY participate!" Ryohei added. "As long as I can box!"

"You'll be fighting Onii-san, so of course you can box." Tsuna responded.

"EXTREME!"

"Hey Tsuna, won't you have to mention this to Hibari?" Yamamoto asked curiously.

"…Yes, but I'll think about that later. For now, just concentrate on leveling up so we'll at least put up a fight in the competition. The strongest a party will get will be level 50, we're under that so if we're put up against a level 50 party, we'll be at a disadvantage."

"Hai, Juudaime." Gokudera looked determined. "I'll make sure to train as much as I can before the competition starts. How much time do we have?"

"To train? About 5 days. After that, all the fights will take place between the next week and a half. Usually, until the contestants narrow down, there will be at least 5-10 fights everyday. The battles are all one-on-one. The party with the most victories then move on to the finals where the 7-player fights begin."

"That's EXTREMELY complicated." Ryohei frowned, scrunching up his face.

"It's just one-one-one until the most powerful parties are chosen. From then on, it's fighting between parties." Tsuna tried his best to make it simpler.

"Makes sense."

"And that's all." Tsuna said simply. The whole time, he hadn't mentioned anything about his father. Not that he needed to, especially when no one asked.

When he had met back up with them that day after the talk with his father, they could all tell he wasn't in the mood to talk about it. No one dared mention his parents either. Mukuro probably had a hand in that.

Frankly, Tsuna was relieved; he didn't know what to make of his father after meeting him for practically the first time.

Tsuna sat down on a swing and pushed himself with his legs. "Thanks for hearing me out guys. I suppose we could just have fun for the rest of the day?"

"Sounds EXTREME!" Ryohei shouted. "Sawada! I challenge you to a boxing match."

"Err, no thanks. I think I'll decline that generous offer."

"Hey, how about we all come over to my shop and hang out? My oyaji has lots of sushi, you can eat all you want!" Yamamoto suggested, crossing his arms behind his head.

"Juudaime, I'm sorry, but I've got some important things to attend to today. I can't stay." Gokudera apologized, bowing again and again until Tsuna stopped him.

"It's fine Gokudera-kun, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Thank you Juudaime." Gokudera bowed once more then ran off.

"Well, I suppose it will just be us three?" Yamamoto asked.

"I EXTREMELY have a boxing match to go to!" Ryohei pumped his fists excitedly. "I'm already late!"

"Why didn't you say that sooner?" Tsuna complained. "If you're late then go!"

"Well I thought—"

"It's impolite to be late for a match."

Ryohei didn't argue and instead dashed off to wherever he was supposed to go.

"Well, I guess that just leaves you and me, huh Tsuna?" Yamamoto laughed.

"Yeah, any suggestions?"

"How about the arcade? I'm up for a racing game, how about you?"

"Sure, I haven't gone to the arcade in a while." Tsuna shrugged and jumped off the swing. "I have to say, I'm pretty good at shooting and racing. A gamer's reflex I suppose?"

Yamamoto chuckled. "We'll see about that."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry, I had a brain fart. I know that this chapter was really bad—very low-key, no action, barely anything important going on in here. Not to mention short. But don't kill me just yet! I promise the next chapter will be longer, I swear! The only downfall will be that it will take me longer to get it out.**

**Anyways, here's a special treat.**

* * *

Valentine's Day Omake!

**A/N: Please note that this omake has nothing to do with the original plot.**

* * *

Today, the game's worlds were all themed pink, red, and white. Trees had pink leaves and white trunks, roofs had turned bright red, and cobblestone paths were multi-colored, alternating between pink and red. But, the weirdest thing about the world was that the clouds were light pink and heart-shaped. Truly a sight to see.

Many people chose not to play that day for obvious reasons. But the ones who did…

_World 44- Agrodolce_

_(Bittersweet)_

"Sword-freak, that's not how you do it!" Gokudera shouted in frustration. "You have to stir it slowly or else it will harden!"

"Haha, but I am doing it slowly."

"Then do it slower!" Gokudera fumed.

"Guys? Can I come in now?" Tsuna's voice came from behind a door.

"We're almost done Juudaime!" Gokudera called, then he hit Lambo's head.

"Stop eating it Ahoshi! By the time we're don, there'll be none left for Juudaime!" He hissed, sticking the ladle back into the pot.

"But it's good!" Lambo whined, licking his lips. "Oh, but it would be better if I added a little grape syrup…"

"Then add it one your chocolate as a finishing touch. But if you keep eating it, there won't be any left!"

"Oi, Tako-head. How do you EXTREMELY do this?" Ryohei asked, holding up a slightly squished strawberry.

"Well first, you don't have to squeeze the life out of it!" Gokudera retorted irritably. Delicately, he took a strawberry by its leaves and dipped it into the newly melted chocolate that Yamamoto had made.

"See? It isn't hard." Gokudera huffed, looking at his masterpiece proudly. Then he placed the chocolate-covered strawberry on a cookie-sheet for it to harden.

"Ohh! I EXTREMELY get it now! EXTREME THANKS TAKO-HEAD!"

"Keep your voice down!" Gokudera pressed a finger to his lips. "Juudaime will hear you!"

"Oh, I am extremely sorry." Ryohei "whispered."

"Whatever, now hurry up. I want 50 strawberries done when I come back."

"YOSH! EXTREME STRAWBERRY DIPPING!"

"Urusai Shibafu-atama! Or else I'll personally see to it that you go mute by the end of the day!"

Ryohei went silent for a second as if he was thinking about something. Then he spoke. "What EXTREMELY does 'mute' mean?"

"…I am not answering that."

"Gokudera-kun?" Tsuna's voice piped up again. "Are you ready now? I'm having a hard time holding off Hibari-san."

"N-not yet Juudaime!" Gokudera said, flustered. In his head, he silently thanks the prefect for all the help he had (indirectly) been.

He turned and barked some more orders to the others. "Hurry up, Juudaime's getting impatient!"

"Kufufu. I don't remember ever taking orders from _you_." Mukuro sneered, twirling a kitchen knife. "I will do as I please."

"Mukuro-sama, we're making chocolates for Bossu."

"…"

"Mukuro-sama?"

"…As I was saying, this is an exception." Mukuro cleared his throat.

"Mukuro-sama, you're going to slice out my other eye."

Mukuro immediately stopped spinning the knife. "Sorry Nagi, I'll stop."

"Instead of taking out my eye, you can use it to shave the chocolate, Mukuro-sama." Chrome said quietly.

"Right." Mukuro took a bar of chocolate and began to expertly cut think curls that were going to be used for decoration.

Gokudera nodded. "Good, good." Then he moved on. It was his turn.

With the melted chocolate that Lambo had made, Gokudera poured it into one bowl. From there, poured small amounts onto one large empty sheet. Sometimes, he made heart-shapes, other times; he made creative patterns like a tornado, a sun, a raindrop, mist, a lightning bolt, and a cloud. Content with his work, he wiped his forehead and sighed. Now, for the finishing touches.

"Alright Ahoshi, you get the lightning bolts. Decorate them as you wish just don't go overboard. Sword-freak, you have the raindrops, Shibafu-atama, you have the suns, you two pineapple heads have the mist, I have the tornadoes, and can someone get Hibari to decorate the clouds? Don't let Juudaime in though."

"I'll get him!" Lambo cheered, peeking out the door. He said something unintelligible, squeaked in pain, and then closed the door. "He'll come as soon as everyone else clears out of the room.

"Tch. Alright then, do what you can. When you're all finished, wrap them in these boxes." Gokudera gestured to a row of rainbow-assorted boxes.

They all set to work. When they finished, the chocolates went as follows:

Gokudera's were complicated pieces of art. The original chocolate was covered with a spot of whipped cream, a drizzle of melted chocolate, and finished with a twirl of shaven chocolate. Very chocolate-y if you hadn't noticed.

Yamamoto's were simple. The raindrop was rimmed with a blue frosting and candy hearts were placed in the middle.

Lambo's hardly looked like chocolate anymore. Every single one was covered in purple. From grape syrup to grape candies, and to real grapes. They were so full that many things fell off and landed messily on the floor.

Mukuro and Chrome's were pretty. From brown mist, they had turned into almost real-looking mist due to expert decorating skills, most likely coming from Chrome. Unless it was all an illusion.

Finally, Ryohei's were a complete mess just like Lambo's. They had somehow transformed from perfect circles into big, hideous yellow blobs. Very unsightly.

As for Hibari, no one would know.

"Ok, let's all leave so that annoying prefect can come in, c'mon, let's go." Gokudera shooed them all out, each taking their box of chocolates and a box of chocolate-covered strawberries.

* * *

When evening fell, everyone was exhausted. Except for one person—the clueless Tsuna.

They were all gathered in a small recreational park outside of Città di Inizi for a picnic.

Gokudera couldn't help but say: "Ok Juudaime, close your eyes and open them on my count."

Tsuna closed his eyes.

Gokudera motioned to them to take out their prizes.

"Alright, three…two…one!"

Tsuna's eyes flew open, only to be greeted by the sight of many boxes, ribbons, and the sweet smell of chocolate.

Everyone cheered. "Happy Valentine's Day!"

Tsuna looked bewildered. "Valen…tines?" There was a pause. "Gah! I completely forgot!"

* * *

**A/N: Ahh, Tsuna. All that work for nothing. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the omake. Review and tell me what you think! And happy Valentine's Day! 3**

**Fun fact of the day: Tsuna has 308 favorite foods!**

**Ciao Ciao!**

**-OnH**


	25. Chapter 21: Preliminaries

Chapter 21: Preliminaries

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!**

**A/N: Hello dear readers and sorry for the late update. I have not been procrastinating; instead I've been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work. It's called creating OC's and as you can tell, there has been a few already in this chapter. But OC-haters fear not, these characters will most likely only be for this arc only because they are needed for the competitions to work out. Once the Varia Arc ends, you will probably not see them again unless there are more battles planned. I give special thanks to those who donated some of their OC's to me (Fi Suki Saki, anyandeveryanime, SoundlessEcho156, ResyaAfhirsa, and my RL friends).**

* * *

_World 25- Mira (Goal)_

In a circular stadium, several people sat in the stands, filling it up to the brim. Surrounded by the seats was a large field where two MCs were standing apathetically. Black masks covered their faces, and they both dressed in somewhat indistinguishable fashions including pink-styled hair, a black coat, a white shirt, and a black bottom. They themselves looked almost like twins if you overlooked the slight changes of get-up.

"Players, welcome to the very first Anello di Battaglia! Here, parties will compete to win a set of rings, identical to those of the boss and his Famiglia's. Now, let's introduce the competitors!"

A round of cheers pierced through the air. Players clapped wildly, whistled, and held up flags for who they were rooting for.

"First off, the famed guild's top members, the Varia!"

Wild screams filled the air as seven players walked into battlefield.

"Welcoming players Xanxus, Shark, Bel, Luss, Levi-A-Than, Mosca, and Fran."

A man with several scars littering his face was followed by a man with long silver hair and eyes that could easily compare to Gokudera's, a teen with blood-red hair shadowing half of his face and a grin stretching from ear-to-ear, a strange-looking person with a shaved head with a flashy pink mohawk and flashy sunglasses, a tough-looking man with lightning shaped sideburns colored brown with matching eyes, several large object protruded from his back, a robot-like player that didn't look very human, and last, a short boy with a blank face wearing a tomato hat trailed behind them.

From the contestant area, Tsuna and his friends were watching the TV screen that showed what was going on outside. Immediately, Tsuna got bad vibes from this group.

"Welcoming our next party, the Cavallone!"

A man with brown hair and tattoos over the exposed parts of his body walked in followed by several tough-looking men in suits and shades. A gleaming black whip hung on the side of his belt and a small green turtle with a dangerously spiky shell sat on his shoulder.

Flashing a good-natured smile that could rival Yamamoto's, hundreds of the female players in the stands squealed at the leader's good looks.

"Next up, we have the party known as Apprendista della Morte. Please welcome Presagio di Morte, Rider, Zǐdàn, Gale, Kuni, Shuri, and Colo.

A visibly quieter cheer accompanied the 2nd group. Despite that, the standard 7-player party entered. In the lead came a boy and a girl. The girl had a black cloak covering half of her body, dark blue hair, shorts and knee-length boots, and a light blue scarf wrapped around her waist. The boy had spiky indigo hair with distorted-looking eyes. A scarf matching his hair color was neatly tied around his neck. Following those two, came two boy-girl twins, dressed exactly the same, with the same hairstyle with dark green hair. Loosely draped across their shoulders were light-green scarves. Next was a girl with light-brown hair. She was wearing a simple real-world looking outfit instead of armor or protective gear. Tied on one of her arms was a yellow bandanna. A boy with jet-black hair, tinged purple came after. A chest plate covered the top half of his body, and simple armor covered his legs. On one wrist was a purple band. Last came a girl with light-red hair and two swords strapped across her back. Holding a plate of armor to her stomach was a red scarf.

Looking at the 7 people, Tsuna could help but feel weak. Only three parties in, and opponents who looked strong, possibly even stronger than the Vongola X had appeared.

"Juudaime, we'll be called next. Get ready."

Gokudera's voice snapped Tsuna's out of his thoughts. "Oh, sorry." He adjusted his orange mantle and stepped to the head of his party. "Is everyone here?" He looked around and was slightly surprised to see Hibari standing off to the side. He nodded his head.

"Don't show any weapons, no matter what." Tsuna stated, staring at a few of his friends in particular. "We don't want our enemies to discover our weapon choice yet, only when in a battle you may use it. This will give us a slight advantage."

Nods answered his request.

"Great!" The blond smiled, and led them out of the contestant room as soon as their name was called.

Cheers instantly greeted them and Tsuna couldn't help but stop the glow of pride welling up in him. He had come a long way; from a solo player to being the leader of the best party he could ever imagine.

The introductions continued, a guild called -Surge- arrived. The leader Zyper led his group proudly. His members were WhisperingMeadows, InnocentFox, SurgingFlames, ShadowSlayer, Lan, and Xiaolong. They seemed to be a mismatched group but looks could be deceiving.

The next guild was named Ken, supposedly created by the player whose name was also Ken. Tsuna noticed that the player was Mochida, an…acquaintance. The others were also for the most part, familiar. The person named Omu looked like another of Tsuna's bullies, Osamu. Then came two who looked like upperclassmen either in high school or in the last year of middle school: the Ooyama brothers, Ei, and Xen (their player names). The other three were people called Sparrow, Gakuto, and Wyvern.

Per usual, Gokudera began to shoot glares at the other competitors, Yamamoto started chatting amiably with a few others, Mukuro, who was getting impatient (he wanted to see how Nagi was doing), was conjuring mini-illusions on other players as tricks, Ryohei was excitedly chatting away about fighting, Lambo was clinging to Tsuna's mantle, and Hibari seemed like he was ready to kill someone because his fingers were twitching dangerously close to where his tonfas were hidden (probably from the sheer amount of people gathered around him; he couldn't stand crowding).

Tsuna didn't even try to calm them down. He would let them have their fun while it lasted. Not very long from now, the real challenge would start.

* * *

All the contestants were gathered in the center of the stadium where the two MC's who called themselves the Cervello began to explain the rules.

"The first battles consist of two rounds where two players will face off against each other."

"The winner will gain one point for their party and in turn, the loser will score 0."

"When the preliminary rounds finish, the 2 top parties will face off in one-on-one battles."

"The party with the most wins will win the set of rings."

"The rules go as follow: the player will be declared winner when the opponent has not gotten up, cannot continue to fight, or has forfeited. If neither player can fight, the match will be declared a draw and no points will be added to either of the party's score."

They took turns talking, yet it was easy to follow (even for Tsuna).

"Is everyone ready?"

There was a chorus of replies and grunts.

"Then, let the battles begin."

The second her sentence ended, all of the player's faces flashed in the air. When it slowed to a halt, the matches had been decided.

"Tch. Who's this Innocent guy?" Gokudera growled, eyeing the other competitors fiercely.

"Ohh! I hope Sparrow is up for some EXTREME boxing!"

"Shh!" Tsuna hushed, looking pointedly at Ryohei. "There's no need to announce who you are, your faces are floating up in the air already!"

"My deepest apologies Juudaime. I am only hoping to fight a strong opponent."

"I'm sure we're all wishing that." Tsuna replied, but inwardly he contradicted himself. It would be nice if he got a weak opponent…

"The first match will be between Kumo and Cavallo."

"All the other contestants may wait in their proper areas. Please do not step out of your designated space marked by the red line; your party will instantly become disqualified."

The Vongola X sans Hibari walked into the redlined box to wait. Hibari, meanwhile, headed towards his position on the battlefield, across from the player Cavallo. His face was completely devoid of any emotion, but his fingers were subtly moving towards his jacket.

"Battle, kaishi!"

Steel tonfas slid into Hibari's hands before no one could even notice. His pushed off his heel, easily closing the distance between him and Cavallo. For a second, Cavallo's green eyes widened in surprise, but he recovered just as quickly, and unhooked the shiny black whip from his belt.

The dark leather wrapped itself around Hibari's left tonfa, immobilizing it. Unfazed, the prefect used his other one to attack.

Cavallo dodged by simply ducking his head.

As if knowing his opponent's actions, Hibari smirked and easily redirected the path of his tonfa, letting it crash down on the other's head mercilessly.

Cavallo fell to the dirt, blinking stars out of his eyes. "Ouch! You pack a hard punch." He complained. Holding his head with one hand.

Hibari's only answer was another sweep of his gleaming tonfas.

Rolling out of the way, the brunet laughed. "Woah, woah there. I don't know what I did to get you angry…but I'm sorry?"

"Pathetic." Hibari narrowed his eyes. "Herbivores will be bitten to death."

"Herbivore?" Cavallo muttered confusedly, "Last time I checked, I've been eating meat all my life. I think I'm an omnivore."

Hibari scowled, his red eyes flashing in slight annoyance. He launched another barrage of swings and swipes before Cavallo could make a move to defend.

A few seconds later, Hibari still hadn't let up and Cavallo was barely managing to hold his ground. His whip had the disadvantage against tonfas. Its defense was low and attack was poor. But, it still seemed to work its magic; only a few hits managed to get through his guard and none of them were very hard.

"Man, you sure are feisty." Cavallo frowned from behind the flurry of steel. "Do you call this a fight? Your hits have no power behind them."

Hibari gave a low growl and doubled his efforts. All that could be seen was the wild blur of steel.

Cavallo sighed, and glanced at the large clock overhead that was timing the match. "This is taking too long. It's about time I sped things up."

Hibari's attacks stopped.

The black whip was now glowing and fiery orange. With a flick of his wrist, the whip snaked around both tonfas, wrapping them together, leaving Hibari unable to attack and defenseless.

Slowly, both tonfas were covered in a layer of stone, unless they had actually turned to stone. Hibari looked a little ticked-off, but nonetheless let go of his tonfas and whipped out his handcuffs. With a small spin around his fingers, locked then around Cavallo's outstretched wrist and sent a wave of cloud flames into them.

Reacting instantaneously, the handcuffs began to rapidly multiply, locking Cavallo in a tight body-cage with spikes digging into his flesh until right below his neck. The hand that had gripped the whip slackened its grip and it fell to the ground.

"Woah, what an interesting attack this is." Cavallo looked bemusedly down the multiple-sized handcuffs surrounding his avatar. "I'm trapped, you got me good."

"Hn." Hibari's lips curled up into a tiny smirk.

"Any chance you'll let me out?"

A deathly glare was sent in Cavallo's direction. Shivering, Cavallo swore that those eyes had said: 'H*ll no!' "Ok, ok." Looking at his discarded weapon then at the poor state he was in, the opponent sighed. "Well, I came her for fun, not for fame. I forfeit."

There was an automatic booing sound from the audience.

Above their heads, the letters spelling out 'Winner: Kumo!' flashed with a purple glow and didn't fade.

Despite his win, Hibari looked unsatisfied, he didn't get the fight he wanted. Not by far. He had entered this contest for the sole purpose of fighting strong opponents, not fooling around with a bunch of Herbivores.

He retracted his flames until all that was left were normal-sized handcuffs then walked over to pick up his tonfas that had lost their petrification status after the battle ended.

What a waste of time. At least there were a few strong-looking opponents, he'd just have his force his way through the ranks until he could finally let-loose and enjoy himself.

Scores:

Vongola X: 1

Varia: 0

Cavallone: 0

Apprendista della Morte: 0

Ken: 0

-Surge-: 0

* * *

Author's Ramblings: I was messing around with Google Translate during this chapter and guess what I found out? Uma means horse in Japanese. UMA, Uma? Gokudera anyone?

World 25- Mira: Goal. The world where most competitions for the first 50 worlds are held.

Anello di Battaglia: Ring Battle

Apprendista della Morte: Death's Apprentice

Presagio di Morte (aka: Morte): Harbinger of Death

Zǐdàn (子弹): Chinese for bullet

Cavallo: Horse aka Dino, most commonly known in the game as 'Bucking Horse', a well-known Cielo class player.

* * *

**Let me give you readers another challenge. Everyone likes long chapters, correct? How's this: this time, if I get 30+reviews, the very next chapter will have 10,000 words. Sound fair?**

**So readers, review and let's see what happens!**


	26. Chapter 22: Hit or Miss

Chapter 22: Hit or Miss

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

* * *

_World 25- Mira (Goal)_

Tsuna watched with half-lidded eyes as the next few rounds of battles passed. To any other observer, it would look like he was merely falling asleep after the matches bored him to death. But that was merely an act.

Au contraire, he was actually paying rapt attention to the fights. He measured the winner's strengths, weaknesses, and fighting capabilities. Chances of facing the winners were undetermined because their fate heavily rested on their teammates power and ability. One win for a party didn't mean six more, it only meant one point closer to finishing in the top two, but competition was still tight. Nonetheless, it was still a good idea to gather information on them.

With a quick glance to his sides, Tsuna noted that his party members were also paying close attention…for the most part, that is. Gokudera was as condescending as ever, making sharp comments whenever he could. Hibari had drifted off to the farthest corner of the cage to avoid crowding, Lambo was asleep like a rock, occasionally murmuring in his sleep, Yamamoto was acting quite restless, Mukuro was impatiently tapping his foot, and Ryohei was enthusiastically narrating each fight.

It wasn't helping when they were confined to such a small area.

So far, the Varia seemed extremely formidable. The members Bell, Levi-A-Than, and Fran had all creamed their opponents easily. Two of which, came from the party -Surge-, the other from Chiavarone. Already, the Varia were winning, in the lead with 3 points, Apprendista della Morte hot on their heels with 2, and Vongola X with 1.

But, no one from Vongola X had gone except Hibari. So they could make a comeback.

Applause erupted from the stadium, making Tsuna blink a few times before he caught on to what was going on. He had been so deep in thought that he hadn't realized the match between the players Wyvern and ShadowSlayer ended in Wyvern's favor.

He looked up at the screen floating above the arena. The next matchup glowed brightly despite the Sun shining above it. Hare vs. Sparrow.

Beside him, Ryohei cheered in excitement, his long-anticipated battle finally had arrived. The glowing red line burned into the ground parted to let the boxer step through, closing back off as soon as he had exited.

Across the battlefield, a person stepped out from his party who were patting him encouragingly on the back. Sharp brown eyes peered out from under black and brown hair, as if looking for his opponent's weakness.

Paying little attention to anything else but Sparrow, Ryohei bounced around on the balls of his feet, throwing a few warm-up jabs into the air.

"Battle, kaishi!"

Sparrow moved first, a large scythe pixilating into existence gripped firmly in his hand. "Oryaa!" He shouted, heaving the weapon over his shoulder for an attack. He brought it down quickly, creating a sharp whistle as his sliced through the air.

Ryohei remained in his spot, jumping side to side to loosen up his leg muscles. The crowd was silent in anticipation.

Inches away from cleaving the boxer in half, he shot to the side, successfully avoiding the sharp blade, which had firmly planted itself into the ground.

The player Sparrow cursed.

Meanwhile, Ryohei threw a punch at the scythe, leaving a web or cracks in the blade. But before he was able to throw another one, Sparrow pulled his weapon out from the earth and spun it in Ryohei's direction.

"Don't think you can defeat me that easily, Hare." Sparrow sneered, eyes flashing dangerously. "I won't go down just yet."

"I like your EXTREME determination!" Ryohei nodded enthusiastically.

"What? Never mind." With that, he swung the curved edge of his scythe around again, holding it out in front of his body. He closed his eyes in concentration and muttered some sort of incantation.

An indigo hue began to envelop the scythe as Sparrow continued his spell.

Ryohei frowned for a second then shrugged. He easily closed the distance between him and his opponent and swung his fist forward, intent on landing a punch in the gut.

But Sparrow dodged, still deep in concentration.

Ryohei tried again, this time hooking his arm around to attack the back of his neck to knock him out.

Again, Sparrow leaped backwards, only this time, his brown eyes snapped open and his scythe had turned into Nuvola flames yet still retained its original form. Throwing an arm out in front of him, Sparrow sent the weapon flying through the air as it morphed into a boomerang.

Surprise flashed across his face as the boomerang spun through the air, honing in on its target with fluid speed. Ryohei rolled to the side but it came spinning back. No matter how many times he avoided the airborne object, he couldn't shake it off.

"What is EXTREMELY wrong with this thing?" Ryohei asked to no one in particular.

Sparrow laughed in glee. "It's a weapon that allows me to manipulate it—I can change it to whatever form I want, and control its movements without touching it."

From the stands, Mukuro scoffed. "Manipulate my *ss, he's just using illusions."

"I EXTREMELY don't get it." Ryohei said, looking confused.

Sparrow sighed. "_What_ do you _not_ get about it?"

"Everything."

"What's this guy's IQ level?" Sparrow muttered under his breath. Louder, he replied, "Sorry, I'm only explaining once. Let's continue with the battle."

Ryohei nodded eagerly, focusing his attention on the boomerang heading towards his head. Before it hit him, he snatched it out from the air, the impact having pushed him back a few inches.

"What?" Sparrow screeched incredulously. "How do you _catch_ my weapon?"

Ryohei shrugged, looking at his bloodied hand. A sparkling yellow glow wrapped around his fingers and went down to his elbow before the faded, taking the bruises the boomerang had caused with them.

"Hey, no fair! Your flame is Sole!" Sparrow complained, stomping his foot. "I have to use elixirs to heal my wounds."

"What EXTREMELY are Sole flames?"

"Not again." Sparrow groaned, slapping his forehead in annoyance. "Should I even take the time to explain at this point?"

* * *

The battle ended shortly thereafter when Ryohei beat Sparrow down to the ground after rounds and rounds of punches, throwing in a Sole-strengthened blow here and there for good measure.

With his weapon temporarily confiscated, Sparrow had little attack power left to give him a victory. When the next round of opponents had been called, he walked off to an unhappy Mochida who had happened to be the boss of the party Ken.

On the other hand, Ryohei had bounded off to his party to be congratulated by Tsuna. Gokudera gave a gruff "well done" after a small prodding by Tsuna. They were now tied with Apprendista della Morte and one point behind Varia.

'_Hopefully,' _Tsuna thought_, 'it won't be long until we pull ahead.'_

Gokudera left the box when his name was called and Tsuna gave him a brief good luck. But even those two words seemed to have a great impact on the bomber who nodded fervently at his words.

"I'll do my best, Juudaime, I won't disappoint you!"

The battle began and Gokudera had easily trounced his opponent, InnocentFox after sending arrows with mini-dynamite attached to their ends at him. Time perfectly, they exploded the second the came in contact with InnocentFox's avatar, most likely due to quick calculations on distance and acceleration from Gokudera.

He didn't even have to use any flames or other methods, efficiently immobilizing his opponent. Gokudera smirked in content. Just as Juudaime had wished, he hadn't shown any superior abilities, keeping his attacks to a minimum. Juudaime would be so proud!

He practically pranced back to the box where the rest of his party members were watching, going straight to Tsuna and looking at him expectantly.

Tsuna smiled at Gokudera's antics. "Good job, you're not hurt, are you?"

The archer and bomber shook his head. "No, the weakling couldn't even lay a finger on me." He puffed his chest out proudly.

"Bleegh." Lambo pulled a face, "I bet I can do better."

"Tch, then show me, Aho-shi." Gokudera mocked, his mood going through a 180.

"Guys." Tsuna cut in, but they paid no attention.

"I don't have to, Baka-dera. I'm naturally the best. I don't have to prove anything."

Gokudera laughed derisively. "Naturally the best by *ss. You're just a weak little cow."

"Guys…"

Lambo broke into tears. "Waaaahhh! Tsuna-nii, Baka-dera is being mean!" He ran to Tsuna and buried his face in his clothes. Tsuna uncertainly petted Lambo's blue hair. "It's ok, I'm sure he didn't mean it. Now, you're up next, c'mon." He gently pushed the child out of the box and on to the battlefield.

"You can do it Lambo." Tsuna smiled encouragingly.

Yamamoto laughed. "Gooo Lambooo!"

Lambo sniffed worriedly. "I don't think I want to do this anymore…"

"Tch." Gokudera clicked his tongue in irritation.

Lambo was about to open his mouth to give a sharp reply but was interrupted by the start of the battle. His opponent, the player named Zǐdàn from the party Apprendista della Morte, already had a pair of sleek black guns in her hands and was shooting a round of flame-infused bullets at Lambo.

"Gupyaaa!" Lambo leaped away just in time to avoid getting a hole through his chest, only to have to dodge more coming his way.

The side of Zǐdàn's mouth curled up in a smirk. "It's not playtime, little boy. Hurry up and get serious or I'll shoot your brain 'till you're dead."

From the sidelines, Gokudera cleared his throat. "Technically, the first time you shoot someone through the cranium, into the brain, and possibly out, the person has a 100% chance of dying on impact. No other bullets are necessary."

Tsuna playfully cuffed him on the arm to shut up.

Back to the battle, Lambo was still running like his life depended on it, which, it kind of did. On the other hand, his opponent seemed to be half-heartedly attacking as if she didn't care when Lambo went down.

Looking to be on the verge of tears, Lambo stuck a hand into a pouch hooked around his waist and pulled out a purple grenade shaped similarly to a cluster of grapes. With the safety pin off, Lambo blindly hurled the grenade over to Zǐdàn, missing her by one or two feet.

It detonated as soon as it hit the ground but the blast caught Lambo's opponent off-guard. She had hastily thrown up her arms in attempt to block most of the explosion, but it had pushed her back and temporarily prevented her from attacking.

"Go, Lambo, go! Now's your chance!" Yamamoto cheered encouragingly, miming a punch just for added affect.

Obeying the swordsman's command, Lambo threw an armful of grenades at the girl, running back to make sure the heat or explosion didn't reach him. The crowd held in a collective breath.

When the smoke finally cleared, a blurry figure could be seen leaning on their knees but still very much alive and kicking. A yellow fire encased the girl for a second before it vanished, taking much of her sustained injuries away with it.

"Hey! You've got Sole flames like Turf-top does!" Lambo exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at Zǐdàn.

"Yeah, so?" Zǐdàn scoffed, brushing dirt off her shirt.

"So, I don't know how to activate mine." Lambo said, his face drawn in a half frown, half pout.

Zǐdàn shrugged nonchalantly. "Not my problem. Deal with it yourself, kid." She twirled her guns a few times then cocked them back and pressed the trigger, causing two trails of smoke to rise where the bullets hit the earth. "Now, if grenades are all you have up your sleeves, then kiss victory goodbye."

Lambo looked as if he ate something sour. "I don't wanna."

Rolling her eyes, Zǐdàn shot a few more rounds of attacks, each bullet aimed at a different part of Lambo's body. "Neck, head, heart, lungs, legs, arms…all areas capable of killing or incapacitating your enemy, each just as effective as the other."

Half thinking, half not, Lambo threw more grenades out in front of him in attempt to blast away the bullets before they could reach him. But traveling much faster than a simple throw or grenades, the bullets cut through Lambo's guard and struck the corners of his clothes, pinning him to the wall behind him when he realized there were thin wires attached to the ends of each bullet.

"Stop, the player Kaminari was been deemed unable to fight, therefore the battle goes to Zǐdàn." One of the Cervello said, raising her hand to halt any more attacks. The crowd erupted in cheers, whistles, and claps.

Stuck to the wall, Lambo sulked unhappily. "Hey, I can still fight! Lemme go and I'll show ya'!"

The second Cervello shook her head. "The battle is over, return to your area."

Zǐdàn smiled smugly, snapping the wires and haughtily walking off to where one of her party members was talking excitedly about the other's victory. That point had brought their party up by one point, putting the Varia, the Vongola X and Appredista della Morte all tied for first place.

But tides could change easily, shown by the two following battles where the Varia pounded their opponents with ease. A strange robot-like player named Mosca had battered up his or her opponent like she was a plaything, sending its arms out for long-distant punches, or detaching rockets from its back.

The player's opponent didn't even have a chance, specializing in throwing projectiles.

The next battle wasn't much different except for its use of different weaponry. The player Shark, who called himself the Sword Emperor—much to Ame (Yamamoto Takeshi) fans' ire, who in turn, also liked to call the blue-haired swordsman the Sword Emperor—beat his opponent SurgingFlames with two strikes of his sword.

Truly a formidable bunch, the Varia was, Tsuna concluded as he watched SurgingFlames get carried away to recover from his injuries—players were unable to die during a tournament.

The next few rounds went to the other parties, bringing -Surge- up two points, Chiavarone up two, and keeping Ken at one. So after a long, boring time of waiting for something thrilling to happen, Tsuna felt relieved when Yamamoto was chosen to go.

Looking at Yamamoto's opponent, Tsuna couldn't help but grimace at the swordsman's luck. Ken, the boss of his party Ken, also known as Kensuke Mochida, also known as Dame-Tsuna's bully, and also known as Senpai to Yamamoto.

"Yo, Senpai!" Yamamoto waved merrily, walking on to the battlefield without a trace of nervousness or concern.

Mochida snorted, drawing his shinai from a red cloth belt wrapped around his waist. "I appreciate meeting you in battle after all this time, Sword Emperor. Only, I had hoped you would have joined my party instead of Dame-Tsuna's."

Yamamoto's eyes narrowed and there was a threatening growl from Gokudera.

On the other side of the stadium where the Varia waited, there was an angry and indignant shout of "VOOOOIIIII!"

Mochida sent an annoyed glare over at the silver-haired player, Shark, before resuming his little conversation. "Well, doesn't matter now, does it? If I beat you here, I'll be labeled stronger than you." He let out a short chuckle. "Then you'll regret not joining my party."

Tsuna snorted. "How did he reach that conclusion? How can you regret not joining a party after being defeated by the player who's in it? Wouldn't you want to get stronger to beat him?"

Gokudera shrugged. "I don't like that idiot. Always wants to prove he's superior."

Mukuro laughed, the sound still scaring the heck out of Tsuna. "Kufufu, shall I teach him manners, Tsunayoshi?"

Shaking his head, Tsuna replied albeit a touch regretfully, "No need, I'm sure we'll get disqualified if you do anything funny."

"How about after the tournament ends?"

"…I'll have to think about it."

The sharp clang of swords ended their conversation as they turned their attention to the battle before them.

Yamamoto and Mochida had their swords locked together, trying to push the other back. Finally, Yamamoto put an extra ounce of strength into his thrust and successfully shoved Mochida backwards.

When his guard faltered, Yamamoto immediately took that to his advantage and struck his opponent's blade, sending it flying away and skittering halfway across the field.

"D*mn it!" Mochida cursed, glaring at his weapon then back at Yamamoto. Then he smirked ever so slightly and let second shinai materialize in his hand. "Didn't think I would come prepared, Sword Emperor?"

"VOOOIIII, THAT'S MY NAME, BRAT!"

Paying no attention to the shout, Mochida slashed downwards, making Yamamoto jump back to avoid the unnaturally sharpened tip of the wooden sword. For a while, they exchanged blows, gaining small nicks or cuts on their upper body.

Bored, the crowd started chanting for more action.

Heeding their wishes, Mochida swished his shinai in a half-arc and with a yell of "Kai!", his weapon transformed into a daisho, or long sword, its elongated blade curving upwards and ending in a nasty looking tip.

Yamamoto gave an appreciating whistle. "That's cool, I wish mine could do that."

Tsuna shook his head. Last time he checked, Yamamoto's katana could do that, transforming from a bamboo sword to a bladed one, but he didn't have to say "kai."

Mochida grinned, "You better gape all you want because while you're at it, I'll just cut you down."

"Woah!" Yamamoto said, narrowly dodging a swing of Mochida's sword, then parrying it with his own. "Nearly got me there!"

"Hopefully you won't be so lucky next time." Mochida jeered, stepping forward in a quick jab, only to be knocked away by Yamamoto again, a pattern that continued for a few more minutes.

Finally, Mochida cut diagonally through the air, twisting his diasho as he did so. A swirl of indigo snaked off of it, tiny tendrils wrapping around Yamamoto's katana.

Yamamoto tried to move his sword but found it to be immobilized. He tried prying it out, but that didn't work either. "Hey, hey, what did you do?"

"Can't tell you, that's mine to know, and yours to keep your nose out of it." Mochida mocked, sending another wave of indigo vines to wrap around his opponent's weapon.

"Maa, maa, just give me a hint then." Yamamoto suggested, smiling.

"Didn't I just say no?" Mochida barked, slicing through Yamamoto's chest plate and drawing blood when the other was defenseless.

Yamamoto winced but shrugged, "Yes, but I though it wouldn't hurt to ask another way." He laughed, but it was a little strained from the pain of his injury.

"Tsk, let's just end this here so we'll all be happier," Mochida said, holding his sword with two hands above his head, preparing for the finishing strike.

Yamamoto's eyes narrowed. 5…4…3…2…1…Now! The effects of his Pioggia flames finally kicked in, loosening the tendrils restricting the movement of his katana. With a single flick of his blade, they were all cut into tiny pieces.

On the other hand, Mochida's eyes widened in surprise at the blue-haired player's crafty method of escape. He didn't think the teen had the brains to think up a plan like that. So, of course he had been gravely wrong. 'But,' Mochida thought, 'I didn't know his flame class so I can't be blamed.'

Utilizing the opening Mochida gave him during his moment of disbelief, Yamamoto shot forward and pierced the other's body in the abdomen, then withdrawing his sword to deal a long slash across Mochida's torso.

When his opponent was paralyzed in pain and maybe even shock, Yamamoto pressed the sharpened end of his Katana against Mochida's throat. "Surrender." He said, his gleaming bronze eyes holding a warning tint.

But Mochida refused to move or raise his hand to forfeit.

Putting more pressure on Mochida's neck, Yamamoto watched a thin line of red form and leak a minute trail of blood. His opponent visibly gulped and the blade dug in even deeper at the movement.

"All right, I give." Mochida sighed, looking extremely pissed and reluctant. "Just don't kill me, ok?"

Nodding, Yamamoto retracted his katana from Mochida's neck, letting the latter crumple to the ground in exhaustion.

"Man, I really though I had that one in the bag." Mochida grumbled, crossing his arms unhappily. "So much for that."

Laughing, Yamamoto put out a hand to help the other up. "You put up a good fight. I had fun."

Mochida gave the teen a weird look. "You think battles are fun? Don't they exist to make you stronger?"

"I knew you weren't going to kill me." Yamamoto started, sheathing his sword and crossing his arms behind his head. "It's just a game, games are meant to be played and for the players to enjoy them, right?"

Mochida snorted. "Yeah right."

Huffing, Yamamoto walked back over to where his party members were bursting with a hearty congratulation.

"Great job, Yamamoto!" Tsuna cheered, giving the teen a high-five. "Way to beat Mochida!"

Gokudera looked like he ate something nasty but put in his own two cents. "The b*stard deserved it."

Yamamoto gave a low chuckle of amusement at his friend's warm—or not—congratulations. "Maa, maa, your guys' battles were good too."

Tsuna puffed out his cheeks. "I haven't gone yet."

"Neither have I." Mukuro pointed out, a small smile playing on his lips. "But it looks like I'm about to."

Tsuna grumbled under his breath. "Why am _I_ the last one to go?"

As Mukuro stepped out of the box, his opponent, Zyper, did the same. "Kufufu, what do we have here? A little boy dreaming to become a champion?" Mukuro mocked, his eyes glinting with cold amusement. "Well today's not your lucky day."

Zyper stuck out his tongue and Mukuro's smirk grew wider.

"Battle, kaishi!"

Mukuro didn't move, choosing instead to stand lazily with his hands stuck inside his pant's pockets. Zyper, however, chose to run in headfirst, two twin daggers held in his hands.

Ducking downwards, Mukuro avoided both attacks, then came up and hit Zyper with the butt of his trident, tossing him backwards so he landed flat on his back. Immediately, the three prongs of the trident were held to Zyper's throat. "Well, give up yet?"

Growling, Zyper knocked the trident away with one of his daggers and rolled to the side to escape a thrust of the weapon that would have pierced him through the stomach. His green eyes flashing with anger, Zyper shot upwards, trying to stab Mukuro.

But being nimble and evasive, Mukuro easily blocked the attack and countered by hitting one of the daggers so forcefully that it flew out of Zyper's grasp and skittered away once it touched the ground. Then, he slammed the end of his trident on the ground, sending a web of cracks around. Before you could blink, orange-red light shone eerily from the fissures and the stadium visibly darkened.

As the cracks in the ground grew larger, the light shone stronger, eventually blinding many players who stood or sat near the front of the arena. Then, with an earsplitting crash, the ground split open and revealed a sea of lava, twisting hungrily underneath their feet.

A few people from the crowd screamed, as did many of the participants who were trapped inside the lava pool also. But the Varia, mainly their boss, Xanxus, stood (or in Xanxus' case, sat) calmly as if the scene hardly affected them. Many of the other more experienced players did the same.

Tsuna could have laughed at all the player's naivety. After battling with the mist user himself, Tsuna knew that the lava was just an illusion created from Nuvola flames, though on a pretty massive scale considering the area of the battlefield. Mukuro would most likely wear himself out with this move. He was probably hoping to end the battle fast.

Standing on a floating piece of what remained of the ground, Mukuro's red eye shone an even more brilliant red due to the color of lava reflecting off of it. Floating a short distance off was Zyper who looked extremely uneasy under Mukuro's mismatched gaze.

"I'll give you one chance to forfeit." Mukuro stated, holding up a finger for emphasis. "You forfeit now, I let you live. If you don't," Mukuro paused, a grin stretching across his face, "who know what will happen?"

Zyper gulped and the audience looked apprehensive at the declaration. There was a long silence as Zyper thought, his blue and pink cotton candy hair swaying in the soft breeze as he did so. Mukuro decided it would be the first thing to get rid of. The colors were definitely not eye candy, more of an eyesore. Not to mention, he wouldn't look half-bad as bald.

Mukuro tapped his left wrist even though he didn't have a watch there. "Time's up, I'll take that as a no."

Nodding nervously, Zyper steadied himself on the miniature island he was floating on, wiping his brow from sweat, and settling down in a defensive stance.

Leaving a bobbing sliver of land behind him, Mukuro jumped towards his foe, his trident extended dangerously. He contemplated whether or not he should use his Six Paths of Hell but decided against it for now. The strain of creating such a large illusion was catching up to him and he didn't want to use up too much of his power. This person wasn't worthy of it anyways.

Zyper's single dagger and Mukuro's trident clashed with such a ferocity that sparks flew off the blades, causing the crowd to gasp in amazement. But where they stood, the small island tipped sideway precariously, and Zyper lost his balance for a split second, making him falter in his attack. Mukuro cut through his guard and left a diagonal slash mark across Zyper's chest before landing safely on a new section of land.

The candy-haired boy pressed a hand to his wound, trying to stop the flow of blood. When he took his hand away, he winced at the red liquid coating it. Mukuro laughed. "Oya, oya? Not used to the sight of blood?" He asked nicking his finger with a point on his trident and staring at the small bead of red that slowly appeared. "Pity, but if you want to become a stronger player, you'll have to get used to it. How have you survived this far, for so long anyways?"

Mukuro shrugged, not giving the boy time to answer. "Kufufu, whatever the case, today will hold an important life lesson for you." Shooting back over to where Zyper stood, Mukuro started slicing at his opponent with a swiftness you could barely follow. The blows were mostly blocked, surprisingly, but a few of them got through, leaving gashes across Zyper's body.

Finally, the attacks stopped, leaving a heavily panting Zyper and a slightly exhausted Mukuro facing off against each other. "Kufufu, not bad." Mukuro sneered, twirling his weapon lazily, then tracing circles in the dirt.

Zyper looked thoughtful for a second, then he raced to the edge of his little island and dipped his dagger into the lava. At contact, it sizzled but didn't melt. The dagger must have had a high durability to withstand the heat. Smirking, he coated the whole blade in the hot liquid and then began attacking with short swipes and jabs.

Fatigue starting to kick in, Mukuro began to slow down and move sluggishly. The heat-enforced blade pierced him a few times, making him wince at the hotness. But he refused to give up. He created a new illusion, sending the boy's worst nightmare at him.

Zyper fell to the ground, screaming in terror as his imagination (with the help of illusions) invaded his mind. Mukuro grinned—he'd always find this method amusing, it never failed to bore him.

"Zyper is unable to battle, the winner is Kiri." One Cervello called, her voice blank and emotionless. Tsuna wondered if they were created to be like that or if they were real people who were just…emo.

Walking back to his party after dispelling the illusions, Mukuro smiled sinisterly at Hibari. "How was that, little Skylark? I bet I made a better show than you did."

He got a combined force of a glare and grunt as a response.

Tsuna frowned worriedly. "Mukuro, I think you should go see a medic. You have quite a few injuries."

Mukuro shook his head stubbornly. "I'd rather see Tsunayoshi kick his opponent halfway across the world than count spots on the ceiling."

Tsuna just rolled his eyes. "But as your boss, I order you to visit the infirmary after my battle ends."

"Fine."

Tsuna nodded then shifted his attention back over to the next battle taking place between another Varia member, Luss, and Rio from Cavallo. It was a long and drawn-out fight. Luss was a close combat specialist while Rio used guns. But in the end, it was a test of stamina, giving Luss the victory and the Varia's sixth point. That would mean that the Varia were ahead of the Vongola X by one point. If their last player, Xanxus, won, then they'd have a perfect score and earn their ticket to the finals.

But if Xanxus lost, they would only have six points. So if Tsuna won his match, they'd be tied. Either way, the fact that the two parties would meet in the finals was already set because the other four parties had no way to make a comeback.

Tsuna narrowed his eyes in determination, as his battle was to be next. Oozora vs. Gale. He stared at his opponent with an appraising stare. Nothing special—he looked like a ruffian who barged in rashly to fight.

Face spitting in a devilish grin, Tsuna drew his dual swords and slid them across each other to make a satisfying sound to scare his opponent. It didn't have quite the effect he desired, but who cares?

The battle would be a piece of cake.

Score:

Varia: 6

Vongola X: 5

Apprendista della Morte: 3

Chiavarone: 2

-Surge-: 2

Ken: 1

* * *

World 25- Mira: Goal. The world where most competitions for the first 50 worlds are held.

Apprendista della Morte: Death's Apprentice

Zǐdàn (子弹): Chinese for bullet

Shinai: The type of sword used in Kendo

**A/N: Sorry, decided to cut it there. Tsuna's battle will be in the next chapter, but don't get excited; it won't be anything special—I'll save the excitement for later. Anyways, I hope I didn't bore you with all the battles crammed inside. Sorry for the late update, I made this extra long to (hopefully) make up for it.**

* * *

_(Late) April Fools' Omake!_

**Warning: possible OOC-ness.**

* * *

_World 20- Far Sparire (Vanish)_

Today was the day.

The day that everybody who dares play Sette Fiamme Mondiale fears.

The day of pranks.

April Fools' Day.

Now, you must be wondering _why_ this day should be feared. It's actually quite obvious: the game plays pranks on the gamers.

It's a built-in sort of thing—it comes with the package. You buy SFM, you get to experience is wonders and horrors. Which means, you get to live through the worst day (or best) day of your life when a certain day comes around.

Most players come out saying it's the worst. But that doesn't matter.

What _does_ matter are the players currently taking part in this fabulous event.

* * *

"Mukuro-sama, are you sure this is ok?"

"Of course my dear Chrome. Whatever reason would you think it not?"

"Cloud-man might kill you."

"Kufufu. That, my dear Chrome, is highly unlikely."

"Bossu might kick you out of his party."

"Tsunayoshi would never do that. We go waaaay back."

"Lambo could stick candy in your hair."

"Kufufu, I'll just eat it."

"Sword-freak will cut off your pineapple spike."

"Sword-freak? You call him that? And what pineapple?"

Chrome nodded and pointed to the back of Mukuro's head. "And Bomber will blast you into bloodied bits."

"Oya? Since when did my little Chrome-chan get so violent?"

Chrome cocked her head questioningly. "Sunny-man will knock out your teeth."

"Kufufu, that's enough daydreaming. None of those will ever happen. Now, make sure you get a good shot. And don't forget to mask yourself in Nuvola flames. Getting caught will ruin our plan."

"Understood, Mukuro-sama."

* * *

That was the 74th vine he had tripped on in one hour.

Rubbing his sore behind, Tsuna pulled himself to his feet and brushed the dirt off his clothes. He sent an angry glare at the ground even though there was nothing there but grass. There had been a vine, make no mistake. He had 74 tries to see if that was true. But it just disappeared the second it made its mark.

This was his first year playing the day of April Fool's. So far, it was far from one of his best days. Even close to one of his worst days thanks to his bullies in real life. But it was most definitely not _fun_.

If he could take a survey, he'd be sure that 100% of the player who experience the pranks SFM dealt out would reply with the word: 'torture.'

But that aside, Tsuna was having a hard time finding his companions. They had been split apart over a few hours ago and there were no signs of any of them.

Probably another of the game's pranks—for all they knew, they could be standing feet away from each other and not know it. The game makers and admins were probably having a blast right now, laughing at their pathetic antics.

Tsuna, however, did not want to be treated like livestock or a comedy show. He refused to play these silly games!

Promptly, he landed face-first in a pile of mud when another vine caught on his foot.

Growling in frustration, Tsuna swiped a hand over his face and spat repeatedly to get the foul taste of mud out of his mouth. There was a forest up ahead. He might as well enter it to see if anyone of his friends were in there.

Keeping a weary eye on the ground, he trudged his way over to the thick throng of trees. The vines would probably follow him in here but at least there wouldn't be any mud. Tsuna shuddered at the thought.

Entering the forest, Tsuna tapped into his flames and let a small orange light hovering from his finger guide him through the semi-darkness.

"Gokudera-kun?" He called, "Yamamoto?"

There was no response.

With a sigh, Tsuna continued walking, his boots making muffled footsteps across the soft grass, occasionally crunching on a twig or dead leaf. When he stopped walking, the entire forest was silent. Creepy. Shouldn't there at least be a bird chirping or a monster prowling somewhere?

When a twig snapped over to his left, Tsuna swiveled his head towards the noise. "Who's there?"

Nothing answered, so Tsuna cautiously began to walk over to inspect it. He caught sight of a red jacket and blue cape—wasn't that what Gokudera and Yamamoto wore?

"Guys? Is that you?"

The two figures turned to face him but what greeted him wasn't his two friends he was expecting to see. Instead, it was much, much different.

"Hello Juudaime!" Hibari smiled and waved cheerfully.

"Yo, Tsuna!" Chrome grinned; her arms crossed casually behind her head.

"Hiiieeee!"

* * *

"D*mnit!" Gokudera kicked a tree, leaving an imprint of his boot at the base. He couldn't find Juudaime at all! Ever since that flash of light, everyone had disappeared, most likely scattered over a 5-mile radius.

Not that he cared about the others. He only wanted to find Juudaime and continue on their journey. The others didn't matter—they never would in his mind.

"Juuuuudaaaaaiiiiimeeeee!" Gokudera cupped his hands to the sides of his mouth to enhance the effects of his shout. The annoying boxer would be proud.

He could hear his voice echo nicely through the small canyon. But nothing responded at all. Frowning and scowling at the same time, the bomber grabbed ahold of a rock jutting out of the earth and made his way up the side of the cliff.

A higher vantage point would benefit his search for Juudaime. The higher up, the farther he would be able to see. And based off a brief calculation, the top of this cliff would give him the view of close to 2 miles around, which, mind you, was both pretty high and really good.

But it wasn't an easy climb by far. After a long and treacherous hike upwards, Gokudera barely made it. He lay on the ground, taking deep breaths to fill his exhausted lungs, his hands bloodied and scratched and his clothes torn and ripped where the rocks had snagged the fabric. So much for durable equipment—how would these weak things hold up in a battle if they couldn't survive a climb up a mountainside? When he got back to town, he'd find something better.

Standing, Gokudera's deep green eyes surveyed the area below him. There was a forest off to his right, a small lake in front, an open field behind, and something that looked like the entrance to a side-quest to the left. He narrowed his eyes in attempt to find any familiar players but his eyesight wasn't that good.

If he were to be Juudaime's Right-hand Man, he should be able to tell where his boss would be at all times. Juudaime needed someone responsible and capable! Currently, Gokudera thought he was none of those.

Stooping over, Gokudera picked up a rock and in his frustration, threw it over the side of the cliff.

"Ow!"

Gokudera froze. That was Juudaime's voice.

Gingerly crawling over to the edge to look down, Gokudera sighed with relief. It was Juudaime! And he was climbing up the side to get to the top.

"Gokudera-kun! I'm so glad I've found you. I've been so worried."

Gokudera frowned inwardly. For some reason, he got the feeling that this wasn't Juudaime. But he looked the same, and the voice was the same. But that knowing sparkle in his orange eyes wasn't there. And _his_ Juudaime would always ask if he was ok, first, because that's just how awesome he was.

"Gokudera-kun? Do you mind helping me up? I can't find a place to put my hand." Imposter-Juudaime looked questioningly at Gokudera who winced at the familiar look.

He didn't respond, but he let one arm hang over the side to grab Imposter-Juudaime's outstretched hand. When he had Imposter-Juudaime firmly in his grip, Gokudera pulled leaned backwards, bringing the imposter with him.

There was a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Gokudera-kun."

The bomber gave a curt nod of his head.

For a few minutes, they sat in silence before Gokudera hesitantly spoke up. "Juudaime?"

Two fierce orange eyes turned towards him. "Tch. Whaddya want?"

_What the h*ll?_

"Never mind." Gokudera hastily added, turning his head away from the look on Imposter-Juudaime's face that always greeted him in the mirror.

"Hmph. I'll bite you to death for disturbing my sleep."

_Huh?_

Gokudera moved aside just in time to avoid a tonfa that would have broken his arm if hadn't moved. What was wrong with this person? It certainly wasn't Juudaime. Not to mention that blood-thirsty prefect's expression didn't look right on Juudaime's face, imposter or not.

Suddenly, the imposter went through a serious mood-swing. "Haha, what am I doing? What's this thing?"

Gokudera slapped his forehead. Whoever this person was, did a fantastic job at miming another's personality. A small sniffle made him look up. What greeted him would forever be burned into his memory.

Imposter-Juudaime had a small pout on his face and two wet trails fell down his cheeks. "I want candy."

Gokudera felt his face turn a hot red as he quickly squeezed his eyes shut. He'd never be able to look at Juudaime the same again!

"Baka-Dera! Gimme candy! I want candy!"

Gokudera covered his ears. Stupid cow.

"Oya oya? What do we have here? Little puppy got lost? Kufufufufu…I'll play with you, doesn't that sound fun, Chrome?"

"Yes, Mukuro-sama."

Gokudera was ready to bite out a sharp reply but he stopped himself as he watched the two different expressions cross Imposter-Juudaime's face as he switched back and forth between two personalities to mimic a conversation between two people.

_What the h*ll was going on?_

The next few seconds were filled with the alternating personas of the imposter. And he couldn't help but wince when the piercing shout of 'EXTREME!' exited Imposter-Juudaime's mouth in Juudaime's voice.

Finally, it seemed like the imposter ran out of steam or something because he finally quieted down. Gokudera unconsciously scooted farther away just in case anything unwelcome happened. Maybe he should start climbing down the mountainside. There was obviously no one in sight, which had stayed the same for the past half hour or so.

Just as Gokudera was preparing himself for the long trip down, he felt a hand latch onto his wrist and stop him. "Wait."

The white-haired bomber reluctantly turned around. "What do you want?"

Imposter-Juudaime looked nervous for some reason. "Well…I…"

"You what?" Gokudera growled, temper rising.

"I…" Suddenly, Imposter-Juudaime morphed into a monster with three eyes, horns, gleaming red eyes, five tails, and purple-green skin. "Bleearrrgh!" Then, he disappeared in a poof of hot-pink smoke.

"*&^$^%&$#*&% !" With that, Gokudera fainted.

* * *

With the annoying herbivores nowhere in sight, Hibari felt that he could relax for once without having to crowd with the other herbivores. A nap would be nice.

Walking over to a large tree that gave plenty of shade, Hibari leaned against its trunk and crossed his arms in content. Closing his eyes, he felt a soft breeze ruffle his hair. Perfect.

As Hibari's breaths evened out as he fell asleep, a bucket of water appeared in the branches over his head. Slowly, it tipped and spilled its contents right on top of an unsuspecting prefect.

Hibari was jolted out of his sleep as soon as the freezing cold water hit him. Seething, the prefect glared into the tree but there was nothing there. Not even the bucket that had dumped water all over him.

Pissed that his sleep had been disturbed, Hibari stood up and stormed away, tonfas at hand, and ready to bite whoever pranked him to death.

That day, whatever poor player who had happened to cross the furious prefect's path came away scarred for life, both metaphorically and physically. Whoever was left alive to tell the tale would say that they saw a demon with blood-colored eyes, a triangular-pointed tail, and purple fire coming spouting out from his fanged mouth.

Yamamoto Takeshi liked water. So when he happened to stumble upon a glittering lake, his ever-existent smile just grew larger. Then he shook his head. He had to find Tsuna and the others before it got dark. And the sky already had long streaks of purples and reds.

But, maybe one of the others had also decided to stare at the pretty scenery. So it wouldn't hurt to patrol the borders of the body of water.

Walking close to the edge, Yamamoto peered down at his reflection only to recoil in shock when the face of a dog stared back up at him. Tentatively, he took another peek and saw the head of a bird. A third and he saw a cow. Fourth and he saw a lion. Fifth and he saw a kangaroo. Sixth time and he saw an over-sized fly's head.

Laughing, Yamamoto repeated the process over and over, entertained by the fact that there was a different animal's head on his body every time. Bending down, he put a finger through the calm blue water and swirled it to disrupt his reflection.

The ripples curved outwards, growing larger and larger, bending the image of the animal's head unrecognizably. Frowning, Yamamoto pulled his finger out let the surface still. When it did, the face that stared back at him looked like something from a horror movie.

Letting out a sharp yelp of surprise, Yamamoto jumped up and backed away but stopped when he ran into something like a body. Turning around, he caught the sight of the same face from the lake staring down at him, attached to a long body covered in a black cloak with…blood stains on it.

"Umm, hi?" Yamamoto said, his mouth curved upwards in a nervous grin.

Suddenly, two gloved hands came out of the cloak. One had some sort of block with powder on it and the other had a stick-like thing with pink sludge-stuff on the end. The powder-colored-block came up and patted his cheek, and then it switched to his other cheek.

Bringing a hand up to his face, Yamamoto felt the powder and swiped some off. He took a close look at it on his finger. What was this stuff?

Before he could think any further, the stick-like thing started to poke at his eyes. He squeezed them shut so they didn't get the pink stuff on them.

"Hey…is this really necessary?"

The figure didn't reply.

Yamamoto didn't count, but for a couple more dreadfully long minutes, the whatever-is-being-done-to-my-face continued. He kept his eyes firmly shut; afraid of what he might see when he opened them.

Finally, he could no longer feel soft clothes or thick brushes against his face so he slowly opened one eye. Nothing was there. So he opened the other. Still nothing.

Yamamoto sighed in relief. Promptly, a large mirror popped up in front of him. The sight made him recoil in shock.

It was definitely his face, yes, the eyes were unmistakably his and the dark blue hair that adorned his head was the same. But, pink color lined the tops of his eyes, his cheeks had some sort thing on it that make it seem like he was blushing, his lips were bright red, and his entire face was covered in white powder, making his skin look like a china doll's. To finish the ensemble, a polka dot pink bow pulled up his fringe and lay centered right over his forehead.

What happened?

Was that thing a fangirl in disguise who wanted to do…stuff to him?

He shuddered at the thought.

* * *

Lambo and Ryohei hand wound up together after the little boy had heard the boxer's loud shouts of 'EXTREME!'

Currently, the two of them were wandering around an endless field of grass and flowers. It was breathtaking, yes, but the two paid no mind to it. Instead, their short attention spans were caught up in something a little more…exciting.

"Turf-top, what is it?"

"I extremely don't know."

"A bug?"

"It does not look like an extreme insect."

"Oh, I think it does. Is it alive?"

Ryohei nudged it with his finger. "It extremely is not."

"Oh. Can I eat it then? It looks tasty."

"No, it might extremely be a boss battle."

Lambo scoffed, "This? Yeah right. Looks like an overgrown eyeball with fur and six legs." He rolled it over with his finger, examining it closely. Suddenly, it grew a mouth and latched onto Lambo's hand, swallowing it whole.

"Gupyaaa!" Lambo leaped into the air, waving his hand around wildly, trying to dislodge the object from his arm.

Ryohei laughed, "So it EXTREMELY was alive!"

_No dip Sherlock._ Lambo deadpanned, aloud, he gave a sarcastic retort. "No, it's obviously not alive."

"It isn't?"

"What do you think Turf-top? Of course it is, now help me get it off!" Lambo shouted, waving his arm around for effect.

"EXTREME!" Ryohei hollered, pumping his fists in enthusiasm. Running over to Lambo, he gripped the strange object and pulled.

"Gyaa! You're pulling my arm off idiot! You're not helping at all!"

Ryohei stopped and looked closely at the thing attached to Lambo's hand. His head mere inches away, the thing removed itself from the boy and immediately grew in size, opening its mouth and chomping down on the boxer's head.

"It EXTREMELY just got dark. Is it night time already?" Ryohei shouted sounding slightly surprised.

Lambo rubbed his wrist, looking unhappily at the fat red marks where the thing's mouth had clamped around. Rolling his eyes, he replied. "No, I think it's just you. You must be going blind."

"It smells EXTREMELY bad in here." Ryohei said, his voice accompanied by a large sniff.

"Not my problem." Lambo shrugged, brushing imaginary dirt off his shoulders.

Ryohei brought his hand up and punched the thing around his head. There was a squeak that sounded distinctly like when a dog bit his squeaky toy. A few gallons of drool later, the furry-eyeball thing fell away from the boxer's head and landed on the ground, rolling in circles.

"What's it doing?" Lambo asked.

"I extremely don't know." Ryohei replied, wiping gooey liquid off his face.

A growl came out of its large mouth.

"Uh-oh." Lambo said nervously, "I think we angered it."

And the chase began.

"This is your fault, Turf-top!" Lambo cried, running desperately away from the large ball lurching after them, occasionally bouncing and closing the gap between them immensely.

"I EXTREMELY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Ryohei called back, the fast pace they were taking having no effect of him.

"Yes you did!" Lambo snapped, glancing over his shoulder quickly to see how far away the thing was. His eyes widened.

"What?" Ryohei asked, looking backwards too.

Lambo stopped in his tracks. "He's…he's…he's…pooping candy."

Sure enough, for every step the thing took, a shining round, neatly wrapped piece of candy popped out from behind him.

A speck of drool dribbled out of Lambo's mouth.

"Lambo, it could be extremely dangerous." Ryohei warned, for once thinking clearly.

But the boy didn't listen and dashed under the thing the second it bounced upwards, and grabbed the nearest candy. "It's grape flavored!" He crowed, holding his prize up in the air. Then, he swooped down and picked up the next one. Grimacing, he dropped it. "Ew, I hate pineapple."

The thing whipped around at the word 'pineapple' and bared shiny white fangs that certainly hadn't been there seconds ago.

"Gupyaa!" Lambo shrieked, clinging to his candy with his dear life. "Turf-top! Help me, it's gonna eat me!"

But before the boxer could move, the thing grew even larger and swallowed the poor boy whole. Ryohei gulped. This was not extreme at all.

For a split second, he swore he heard a familiar laugh before it faded, sending chills up Ryohei's spine.

"Kufufufu…"

* * *

When night feel, the Vongola X had once more reunited, for better or for worse. Tsuna was rambling about split personalities, Gokudera was mumbling incoherently, Hibari was turning a poor building to dust, Yamamoto was hiding his head under a bag, Lambo was covered in slobber and muttering about mouths, and Ryohei seemed to be thinking for once.

On the other hand, Mukuro and his young sidekick Chrome were hiding away in a corner, whispering to each other conspiratorially.

"Hurry up and put that here. Kufufu, yes. That's perfect. Now it should be good. You make extra copies of our little Skylark, right? Good, good. I'll enjoy teasing him with this, kufufu…"

Straightening, Mukuro stood up, his hands hidden behind his back. Chrome rose shortly after, trailing nervously after Mukuro.

Smiling sinisterly, Mukuro spoke in a falsely sweet voice. "Guess what everyone? I have a small present for you~"

Everyone looked up, surprisingly even Hibari though in his case, it wasn't out of curiosity; it was most likely his thirst to start a fight with his long-time rival.

His smile still plastered to his face, Mukuro brought his hands out from behind his back and presented a thick photo album titled "The Valiant Downfall of Vongola X."

Tsuna took the album from Mukuro, looking suspiciously up at the pineapple-haired teen. "This isn't one of your tricks, is it?"

"Oh no. I would never!" Mukuro gasped, nudging Chrome his elbow who then nodded in affirmation.

Still looking at the book as if it would explode, Tsuna gently opened it and flipped through the pages. He let out a sound in a cross between a cough and a gurgle.

Somewhere behind Tsuna, Gokudera choked, Yamamoto let out a faint whimper, Hibari looked like he was going to kill, Lambo sniffed, and Ryohei laughed. Mukuro smiled triumphantly.

Inside the photo album laid their oh-so-esteemed-selves in their "moments" during the day.

Mukuro couldn't help but laugh at their looks both in the book and currently. "Kufufu…fufwahahaha!"

Chrome cleared her throat.

Mukuro patted her head. "Next year, we'll do even better."

Chrome didn't reply, her head turned away and looking a far ways off.

Tsuna's eye twitched, the rest of his face unreadable.

Chrome sighed in exasperation. He should have listened to her.

The next second found Mukuro in a sticky—figuratively and physically—situation. At least ten pieces of candy were sticking out of his hair, his famous pineapple-spike had been cleanly shaved off, a dozen sticks of dynamite lay at his feet, a tonfa was centimeters away from his face, and just for the fun of it, Ryohei's bandaged fist was zeroing in on his mouth.

"Oya oya?"

* * *

**A/N: Sorry, not really funny. I couldn't really think of good pranks that Mukuro could play. Special thanks to arunedel for the amazing ideas they gave me for this (and the next) omake!**

* * *

__

(Late) Easter Omake!

_World 7- Coniglio (Rabbit)_

The air is wet and moist, little beads of dew sparkle across the field, yet, not an egg is in sight. The date is Easter, so why aren't there any eggs?

The answer lies just beyond the field, in a small shack close to bursting with noise.

"Ahoshi! That's the 29th egg you've broken!" A white-haired teen shouted, his face red in fury. In one hand was a half-colored egg and in the other was a brush dripping with red dye.

"Bleegh!" The boy subject to the other's anger stuck out his tongue and pulled down one of his eyelids. "If you're so mad, why don't you just tape them back together?"

"Why the h*ll would I do that? You can't tape and egg back together!"

"Have you ever tried?"

"No! But that's besides the point!"

"Maa, maa Gokudera." Another teen interrupted. "29 eggs aren't too much to fret over."

"Shut up Sword-freak. Can those 28 broken eggs right next to you speak for themselves?" Gokudera shot back, obviously on his last nerve.

Next to the quarreling trio, a blond-haired teen looked up from his rainbow colored egg. A green and blue smudge stained part of his cheek. "Can you guys settle down? I don't want the younger players to find us here. The egg hunt is supposed to be a secret."

"My apologies, Juudaime." Gokudera mumbled, embarrassed. "But on the bright side, it's only two in the morning, we still have time to finish up and hide the eggs!"

"But I haven't gotten any sleep since yesterday!"

"Don't worry Tsuna, I can paint your eggs. You can go and take a short nap."

"Thanks Yamamoto, but you know that wouldn't be fair." Tsuna shot Yamamoto a grateful look. "It'll only be for a couple more hours or so, right?"

"If you want to watch the hunt, I think it'd be more than just a couple." Yamamoto replied, picking up a new egg to decorate.

Tsuna sighed and rubbed his eyes with one hand, leaving a trail of light pink coloring across his face. He spared a few seconds from his work to glance at his other friends.

Lambo was sloppily throwing dyes at his eggs, Chrome was artistically drawing delicate designs and flowers across hers, Mukuro was laughing creepily while painting his eggs to look like pineapples, Ryohei was dunking eggs in every color so they came out looking like mud, and Hibari…Tsuna couldn't tell what he was doing.

Even with eight people to paint eggs, they were working abnormally slow. And they still had 5 more baskets to fill before they were finished.

Sliding his brush over the top of his pastel-colored egg with a flourish, Tsuna carefully set it down in a basket and moved on to his next one. If only there were a few more hands to help that weren't like any of his messy friends. Then they might stand a chance of finishing before the hunt started.

Suddenly, Hibari walked stiffly over to the baskets, procured about a few dozen eggs, dropped them in an empty basket, and walked quickly away.

Tsuna's jaw dropped. Hibari had been painting eggs. And they had been done…Tsuna peered closely at their designs. A faint blush crept over his cheeks. Cute!

One looked like a fluffy white bunny, another was colored like a yellow chick with two shining black eyes gazing at you, and the next looked a lot like a hedgehog, while the others had similar animal designs.

When he felt a hot gaze on his back, Tsuna hastily turned around and went back to work, not wanting Hibari to glare a hole through him. But still…Tsuna had no idea the prefect was the type to paint that kind of stuff.

Heck! Gokudera was probably the second roughest and battle-thirsty guardian he had and his eggs turned out sloppy and sporting skull designs that would probably scare most of the kids who came across them away.

Tsuna felt his head explode. _'Focus on the painting.'_ He reminded himself, _'no use in overthinking the impossible.'_

* * *

After the twenty or so basketfuls of eggs had been completed and ready for the hunt, the eight members of Vongola X were dashing around the field, dropping and hiding eggs as they went. Occasionally, they didn't see another coming and crashed into each other, breaking several eggs in the process.

From his viewpoint, Tsuna shook his head in exasperation. Good thing they had a couple of backups waiting back in the shack they had used to paint in. Hurrying over to the hut, Tsuna grabbed the extra baskets to lay himself after he had long since finished his share of baskets.

They only had about ten or so more minutes before the younger players of SFM arrived to egg hunt. It would be a tight squeeze, but Tsuna trusted everyone to finish before then.

And just as he knew, just a second or two before the first child arrived, Lambo hid the last egg.

Childish screams filled the air as young players saw the field filled with colorful, round presents. A few older players who were likely either their guardians or older siblings in real life had tagged along to watch over them.

Tsuna let out a long breath in relief. Just in time. There had been a large sum of money for the egg-painting quest they just completed. Maybe that money could buy a base for their party. It would be nice to have a place to hang out and gather.

A sharp boom startled Tsuna out of his thoughts. He noticed the kids taking off, baskets slung over their arms and beginning to fill up with the eggs they painted. He almost choked when he saw a familiar light-blue mop of hair racing along with them.

What was Lambo doing, hunting eggs? Wouldn't he be cheating if he were the one who laid about a tenth of them? Tsuna shook his head. Lambo might as well have his fun. After all, he wasn't much older than the other players there.

Walking closer to where the rest of his friends were standing, watching the mass of kids work their way across the field, stopping every so often to grab an egg, Tsuna smiled. Easter egg hunts were uncommon in Japan; it was probably even nonexistent where he lived. So it was nice to watch one for the first time, even if he wasn't the one participating.

Beside him, Yamamoto was laughing cheerily, shouting directions to Lambo who was following obediently for once, probably because they led him to several eggs. But when he listened closely, Tsuna realized Yamamoto's "directions" weren't very direct.

"Lambo! Go that way! No, the other way! No, the other way. Wait, turn around, I think there's something by your foot! Oops, sorry, that's just a flower. Ok, keep running. Hold on. Stop! Oh sorry, you're good. Keep running." Yamamoto laughed, waving his arms wildly in attempts to point Lambo in the right track.

Finally growing tired of it, Lambo stopped and shouted at the swordsman. "Shut up Sword-freak! You're not helping at all!"

"Haha, sorry." Yamamoto rubbed the back of his neck. "But there is an egg next to you this time."

Lambo looked down, picked it up with a 'humph,' spun on his heel, and dashed away.

Ryohei pumped a fist in excitement. "EXTREME Lambo! If you need any help, I will lend you my EXTREME skills!"

Twisting his head around, Lambo stuck out his tongue, let out a rude noise, and ran off towards a pink-and-yellow egg. Meanwhile, Gokudera 'tch-ed' and glared at the boy's retreating figure, likely thinking of ways to discipline him if Hibari didn't beat him to it.

When about a half an hour passed, the egg hunt finally finished and all the participants dropped down in the place they had been standing to tally up and open their eggs. A few smarter kids stayed standing up, searching for any missed eggs.

When the first egg was cracked open, a light shaped like a rabbit sprang out of it and hopped around the player's head a few times before it faded, leaving a trail of faint Nuvola flames.

Tsuna shot a curious glance at Mukuro who shrugged in amusement. "I cast a small spell on all the eggs. It was Chrome's idea." Next to him, Chrome turned away with an embarrassed blush. Mukuro, on the other hand, ruffled Chrome's hair in reassurance.

Lambo walked over to them with a faint bounce in his step, his hands laden with candy that had come out of the eggs after being opened, unlike the times they were broken in the process of painting and laying.

"Tsuna-nii, look, look! I got grape candy, lots of grape candy!"

Tsuna smiled at his youngest guardian. "I can see that."

"Here," Lambo chirped, "you can have this one." He placed a round sweet in a purple wrapper in Tsuna's hand. Then he sent a cursory glance to the others before he stuck out his tongue again and walked away.

Gokudera, as pissed off as he was, sent a fist crashing down on Lambo's head.

Dropping his candy in favor of clutching his aching head, Lambo glared at the bomber through one eye. "Ow Baka-dera! What was that for?"

"Tch." Was his only response as Gokudera turned away with a frown.

Tsuna sighed. "Gokudera-kun."

"Sorry." Gokudera's voice came out stiff and heavily reluctant.

"Thank you." Tsuna said, then turned toward a teary Lambo. "C'mon, I'll help you pick them up. But no more faces, ok?"

Lambo nodded his head, swiping his arm over his nose to wipe his dripping nose.

When all the candy had been carefully gathered in Lambo's hands again, he reluctantly gave everyone a piece (not the grape-flavored ones, of course).

Tsuna patted Lambo on the shoulder. "Happy Easter everyone."

* * *

Meanwhile, Hibari had wandered off as always to get away from the annoying crowd of herbivores. He stared at a nice, large, shady tree and jumped up onto a branch. He closed his eyes, preparing to take a nap but something nudged at his foot.

He cracked open one eye and saw an empty nest, save for a small yellow-speckled-white egg—a real one—at the end of the branch. Shifting his foot, Hibari closed his eye and fell asleep.

He awoke when a soft chirping sounded in his ear. He glared, ready to bite whoever disturbed his sleep to death but stopped when he felt a light weight on his shoulder.

An empty nest with a broken shell was at his foot. On his shoulder was a fluffy yellow bird with an oversized beak and two shining black eyes.

Hibari couldn't help the light-red tinge from staining his cheeks; it was a good thing no one else was nearby. The little bird was so adorable.

He held out a finger and the chick hopped on immediately. A soft smile graced Hibari's lips. With his other hand, he slowly petted the bird on its head, it chirped happily at the contact. It needed a name.

Looking down at the tiny ball of yellow fluff on his finger, Hibari decided.

Hibird.

* * *

A/N: Hey fellow earthlings, Oozora here with an important announcement. I've decided to drop SFM for an undetermined amount of time. Instead, I'm going to try and focus on some of my other stories. Sorry.

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HA! APRIL FOOL'S! (Even though it's really, really, really, really late).

Ok, forget about whatever I said above, that was a lie.

Anyways, here's something just to put into your mind. Tsuna's birthday is on the 14th of October; Reborn's birthday is on the 13th of October. 13+14=27 and 27 is Tsuna's shorthand number. Coincidence?

**It's time to play I'm-A-KHR-Maniac! Ok, here's the question: Who is the first boss to speak when Tsuna meets the first 9 Vongola bosses during a training session with TYL!Hibari?**

**Rules: Don't use the Internet! Don't re-watch the episode (whichever one it is)! Don't ask a friend! And last, become one with KHR!**


End file.
